New state rules implemented earlier this year paved the way for Dr. P. Phillips Hospital to offer patients in southwest Orlando elective procedures to unclog their arteries at a hospital closer to home. 

 

The move places Dr. Phillips Hospital at the top of the list of community hospitals in the Orlando metro area to provide elective angioplasty and stenting for patients. Before the rules changed, state guidelines required these elective procedures to be performed only at hospitals with onsite open-heart surgery capabilities. Under previous guidelines, patients at Dr. Phillips Hospital needing these elective procedures would have been transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC).

 

"The guidelines to perform elective PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention) in a freestanding facility, without the previously required open-heart surgery capabilities, were approved by AHCA in January 2009, and Dr. Phillips Hospital was approved under these guidelines in April," said Anita Loggins, RN, patient care administrator for Dr. Phillips Hospital, part of Orlando Health. "Performing elective PCI is a natural progression from the STEMI Program that began last February and is a part of our continued commitment to providing needed cardiac care to our community."

 

Leaders at Dr. Phillips Hospital were not involved in lobbying for changes to the state rules, but certainly endorse them, Loggins added.

 

Dr. Phillips Hospital has provided diagnostic services in its cath lab for nearly a decade. Taking services one step further to perform PCI options (angioplasty and stenting) to restore blood flow to the heart immediately is even more beneficial to patient care.

 

"We know that time is muscle when it comes to the heart," Mark A. Steiner, MD, an interventional cardiologist for Orlando Heart Center who practices at Dr. Phillips Hospital's Cath Lab. "More timely intervention without delays will help improve outcomes. We're pleased to offer this service for our community, in our community."

 

Patients benefit from having a PCI performed in the same setting of initial care, said Steiner.

 

"Coordination of care is maintained, treatment begins more quickly, medical resources are used more efficiently, and transportation costs are reduced," he said.

 

Steiner explained that previous state guideline requirements determining where certain cardiac procedures could be performed date back years ago, when PCIs often required emergent bypass surgery afterwards.

 

"Due to improvements in the technology of angioplasty and stents, specialized training and the experience of our cath lab team, the number of patients needing surgery after a PCI has dropped dramatically," said Steiner.

 

In the unlikely event of needed surgery after a PCI, state guidelines require a hospital to be able to transport a patient from a cath lab to a hospital that can provide open heart surgery in less than 60 minutes. Dr. Phillip's has protocols in place to insure that those patients would be transported from the cath lab-to-surgery at ORMC within that time frame.

 

Also, state guidelines for patients having a heart attack require a door-to-treatment time (or door-to-balloon time) of 90 minutes or less. Dr. Phillips Hospital's current time averages 56 minutes.

 

The state rules change and subsequent expansion of the hospital's cardiac services occurred shortly after the new Dr. Phillips Hospital tower opened, adding capacity for 142 more patient rooms and enhanced medical services. The 315,000-square-foot patient tower includes 46 intensive care unit private rooms, 48 progressive care unit private rooms, and space for 48 medical surgical beds, eight surgical suites, and five cardiac catheterization rooms. The tower also features an infusion therapy area, an 80-seat outpatient diagnostics services waiting area, a 70-seat surgical waiting area, expanded imaging and non-invasive diagnostics departments, and expanded support departments.

 

The new tower expansion complements previous projects and enhancements such as a 44-bed emergency department, accredited chest pain center, stroke center, and advanced diagnostic imaging and cardiac diagnostic technology, including a 64-slice CT scanner.

 

Dr. P. Phillips Hospital also has on site a wound care center, multiple sclerosis comprehensive care center, and Campisi Health Centers, a medically-based wellness program focusing on health, weight loss and lifestyle changes. Also, the Cynthia C. and William E. Perry Pavilion, a two-story hospitality home within the hospital, offers overnight accommodations for families of patients from outside the Orlando area.

 

Dr. P. Phillips Hospital originally opened as Orlando Regional Sand Lake Hospital on Dec. 10, 1985 to provide quality medical care to southwest neighborhoods and the tourism corridor. Since then, the medical staff has treated more than 2.5 million patients.

 

"The hospital was designed with the patient in mind," said Orlando Health CEO John Hillenmeyer, who then served as the senior vice president responsible for the hospital project. "We sought advice from many patients, doctors and nurses before we allowed the architect to draw a line."

 

Today, Dr. P. Phillips Hospital employs 300 physicians and 1,000 staff who collectively manage more than 12,000 admissions and nearly 90,000 emergency department visits annually.