Gwinnett Medical Center (GMC) broke ground for its Heart & Vascular Center on June 16. The new center is slated to open in early 2012 and is planned as a 40,000 square foot facility at a cost of $33 million.
With the community’s support, GMC secured approval from the State to launch its open heart program in Gwinnett County, the largest county in the nation without an open heart surgery program.
“This will be a state-of-the-art center, infusing the latest technologies,” said Manfred Sandler, MD, director of cardiology at GMC. “For the professionals who will work here, it will be a dream. Physicians and staff have been involved in the planning and design process, and the result is the creation of facilities that are optimally configured – providing the best possible environment to focus on the task at hand.”
While open heart surgery has been the focal point of the project, the program does encompass other advanced cardiovascular services, including coronary angioplasty and stenting procedures. These new services add to a cardiac program that includes an accredited chest pain center in the emergency department, a cardiac wellness program certified by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation and a full range of cardiac diagnostic services.