Gwinnett Medical Center announced that its first Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) procedure was performed in its cardiac catheterization lab on March 1st. Henry Medical Center also performed its first PCI procedure recently.
“This moves us one major step closer to offering the complete array of advanced cardiovascular care right here in Gwinnett,” stated Philip R. Wolfe, GMC president and CEO.
The ability to perform PCI is one component of what will be a full suite of advanced cardiovascular services at Gwinnett Medical Center. Approval to provide the service was granted by the Georgia Department of Community Health, complementing the approval to offer open heart surgical services. The hospital is currently constructing its Heart & Vascular Center at GMC-Lawrenceville, but is able to perform PCI services within its existing cardiac catheterization labs. The Heart & Vascular Center is scheduled to open in early 2012.
The procedure was performed by Dr. Louis Heller of Cardiovascular Group, P.C. Dr. Heller is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Diseases, Interventional Cardiology and a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. He is the Director of the cardiac cath lab at GMC.
Cardiologist Muthusamy Sekar, M.D. performed the PCI procedure at Henry Medical Center where they have spent the past six months developing its coronary angioplasty program in collaboration with Piedmont Heart Institute. Program development included training staff, implementing policies and protocols and conducting simulated angioplasty procedures.
