Visions 2015 Rockdale News Special Section | Page 13

Health spotlight

When seconds

count

Saving more lives at RMC with more
treatments for heart attack patients
By Martin Rand III

L

ater this year, Rockdale Medical Center (RMC) will start a
game-changing new program at
the hospital that has the potential to save
more lives of people suffering from heart
disease related symptoms.
The Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
(PCI) program, formerly called a cardiac
angioplasty, will allow doctors at the medical facility to treat people suffering with a
heart attack by opening blocked arties to
get blood flowing to the heart muscle.
This type of procedure is a welcome addition to the hospital
because patients will no longer have to go other nearby hospitals in downtown Atlanta, like Emory Healthcare, to receive
treatment, says Becky Upchurch, director of cardiovascular
services for the RMC.
“What happens now instead of shipping (patients) downtown,
all we have to do is move them the (catheterization) lab across
from the emergency room,” she said.
Upchurch says that physicians have about 90 minutes to
potentially fix a person’s heart and save some heart muscle from
the time the heart attack begins. With all the distance and traffic
headed to Atlanta, having this PCI program in will benefit many
residents in Rockdale County as well the surrounding counties.
“The need really is time,” she said. The longer you’re having a
heart attack, the higher the mortality rate. The faster you can get
treatment, the more likely it is that you’ll survive.”
In 2014, RMC and emergency medical services transported
at least 500 residents to the downtown Atlanta hospitals for

cardiac care.
“The majority of these (patients) will soon be able to receive
the same excellent care close to their homes,” said Upchurch.
“It’s huge for the patients and it’s huge for the family because
you don’t have to travel through traffic to be near your loved
one.”
This PCI program has been on the hospital’s wish list for the
last five years, ever since the state legislature passed a bill that
allows hospitals to request permission to begin PCI without
surgical backup programs.
Last year, RMC CEO Deborah Armstrong and other executives at the hospital decided it was time to really pursue the PCI
because they have gone through a number of changes that put
them in a better position to maintain the program.
“She worked with LifePoint to strengthen our infrastructure,
to upgrade and replace old equipment with state of the art,
to renovate patient areas, and to be able to offer competitive
salaries so that the hospital could hire skilled and experienced
staff,” said Upchurch.
LifePoint Hospitals, Inc. owns RMC. The company agreed to
fund a second $2.56 million catheterization lab in September to
house the PCI program. The one catheterization lab currently at
RMC can only be used for diagnostic purposes but not treatment.
The new multi-million dollar lab will feature state-of-theart equipment and will not only be a diagnostic center, but it
will also be able to treat the blocked arteries with angioplasty,
atherectomy and stenting. Implantation of permanent pacemakers and automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillators
(AICD) could also be performed.
Construction on the new lab began in February and is expected to be completed by July 13.
“People ask all the time when will (the RMC) be able to do these
services in Rockdale,” said Upchurch. “Now, this year we will be.” RN
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