Population Growth, Physician Support Drives Lakeside Hospital to Open Cath Lab

July 20, 2004 – Alegent Health plans to open a Cardiac Catheterization Lab at Lakeside Hospital shortly after the new hospital opens later this summer. With population increasing faster than originally projected and increasing requests from physicians, hospital officials decided that a Cath Lab would be needed sooner rather than later.

Population is estimated to reach 162,600 in western Douglas County by 2007 – well above original projections – creating an increased community need for this diagnostic technology. In addition, cardiologists and primary care physicians are increasingly emphasizing the need for a Cath Lab since there is no other such facility available in west Omaha.

"With a Cath Lab on Lakeside’s campus, we will not only have the ability to provide elective physician-referred procedures, we will also be able to effectively care for chest pain or myocardial infarction patients who come to our emergency department," said John Enright, vice president of Cardiovascular Services at Alegent. "Patients in west Omaha will no longer have to leave their community to have this cardiac procedure."

During time-sensitive cardiac events, the Emergency Department, working closely with a cardiologist, can send a patient suffering from severe chest pain directly to the Cath Lab for accurate diagnosis and intervention as necessary without having to transfer the patient to another location across Omaha.

With the addition of a Cath Lab, Lakeside will offer a complete continuum of cardiac services, with the exception of cardiac surgery, which includes procedures like open-heart bypass and off-pump coronary artery bypass surgeries. Patients requiring cardiac surgery can be referred to Alegent Health Immanuel Medical Center or Bergan Mercy Medical Center where most of the region’s cardiac surgeries are performed.  

According to Su Eells, operations director of the Heart and Vascular Institute at Lakeside, the new Cath Lab will be state of the art including digital acquisition and flat-panel monitors, which allow a cardiologist to view higher quality images of the heart and its arteries.

"The images we obtain will allow the physician to more easily detect blockages in the arteries. With this information, an appropriate plan of treatment can be determined," Eels said. "Additionally, the cardiologist or cardiac surgeon will be able to access this information immediately at both Immanuel and Bergan to facilitate clinical decision making."

In addition to cardiac catheterization, the range of cardiac services that will be available at Lakeside Hospital include non-invasive procedures such as nuclear stress tests, echocardiography, and vascular ultrasound; invasive capabilities including coronary angiography, angioplasty, and drug-eluting stent placement; and full-service cardiac rehabilitation.

The Cath Lab will be located on the first floor of the new hospital.