Cardiology

Patients coming to St. Mary Medical Center for cardiac care benefit from the availability of a broad range of cardiac services:

Emergency Department

Many patients suffering from acute heart attack, unstable angina, heart failure, arrhythmias or other serious cardiac conditions are brought to the Emergency Department at St. Mary Medical Center, where they are given priority. If appropriate, clot-dissolving drugs are administered to patients having a heart attack. Patients requiring cardiac surgery or angioplasty are stabilized and transported to a tertiary care hospital providing these services, usually in Spokane, Portland, or Seattle.

Imaging Services

The Imaging Department of St. Mary Medical Center provides cardiac diagnostic services including:

• Echocardiography - A transthoracic echocardiogram is an ultrasound study of the heart used to determine the ability of the heart to move volumes of blood. It can also be used to evaluate the muscle around the heart. A transesophageal echocardiogram, uses a scope passed via the esophagus to perform an echocardiogram without the interference of the muscle and bone of the chest wall.

• Cardiac catheterization - is used to study the coronary artery anatomy (the blood vessels that provide the heart with blood). It is also utilized to look at the amount of blood that is moved with each beat and to measure the pressure in the heart and lungs.

• Nuclear cardiology - is used to evaluate the heart for any loss of blood to the muscle of the heart. It measures the amount of motion in the wall of the heart as it is beating and the volume of blood it is moving.

Cardiac Testing

Two different types of stress tests are conducted: exercise and pharmacologic. Stress testing can be combined with imaging (echocardiography or nuclear medicine) to improve test accuracy.

Cardiac Intensive Care
The Intensive Care Unit at St. Mary Medical Center is staffed by nurses with special competence in critical care and cardiac nursing. Medical directorship of the intensive care unit is shared by two physicians who are board certified in pulmonary and critical care medicine.

Cardiac Rehabilitation and Secondary Prevention

Cardiac rehabilitation following an acute heart attack, unstable angina, heart failure, heart blockage, arrhythmias, or other serious cardiac conditions, focuses on guiding the patient toward an appropriate level of function while initiating the process of secondary prevention. Cardiac rehabilitation is a compilation of comprehensive long-term services involving medical evaluation, prescribed exercise, cardiac risk factor modification and education, counseling and behavioral interventions. The continuum of care for cardiac rehabilitation can involve three phases: acute/transitional inpatient, outpatient, and community settings. Patients are referred to Turning Point Rehabilitation Center for acute inpatient, transitional and outpatient cardiac rehabilitation and to the Walla Walla YMCA for community-based cardiac rehabilitation.