Structural Heart Program Resumes on Thursday, June 20
Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) today provided an update on the status of cardiac surgery at the Wynn Hospital.
- Structural Heart Program to resume on Thursday, June 20. A cardiac surgeon is required to be present in the Operating Room while any structural heart procedure is being performed. As of June 20, MVHS has cardiac surgeon coverage to perform these procedures: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), WATCHMAN and MitraClip.
- TAVR is a procedure that replaces a diseased aortic valve with a man-made valve.
- WATCHMAN, a minimally invasive procedure during which a device is implanted in the heart to treat atrial fibrillation (AFib) and reduce the risk of stroke.
- MitraClip is a small device used to stop leaking in the mitral valve that is implanted through an interventional cardiology procedure called transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) using a flexible, hollow tube (catheter).
This means that all cardiac procedures – with the exception of open heart surgery – are being performed at the Wynn Hospital.
- Review of the open heart surgery program is well underway. MVHS/Wynn Hospital has contracted with an external medical agency to review its open heart surgery program and make recommendations to strengthen this service. The review should be completed by the end of the month, and then it is anticipated to take a couple of months to restart the program.
The community should continue to look to the Wynn Hospital for all cardiac treatment – especially for time-sensitive issues such as heart attacks. Nearly all heart attacks can be treated with procedures being performed at the Wynn. If a patient presents with a case so severe it requires open heart surgery, the staff at the Wynn are fully capable to stabilize the patient and safely transfer them to a higher level of care. These cases are very rare.
“Patient care and safety has been and will always be our top priority,” said Darlene Stromstad, FACHE, MVHS President/CEO. “While there has been a frenzy of negativity around our decisions, the fact remains that the MVHS Administration and Board of Directors keep patients as the focus of all that we do and we act accordingly.”
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