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NUHEALTH LAUNCHES HEART FAILURE PROGRAM TO IMPROVE CONTINUUM OF CARE FROM NUMC TO HOME

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 4, 2011

PRESS CONTACT:
Shelley Lotenberg
shelley@numc.edu
516-572-6055

NUHEALTH LAUNCHES HEART FAILURE PROGRAM TO IMPROVE CONTINUUM OF CARE FROM NUMC TO HOME

CARDIOLOGY CHAIR, SANJAY DODDAMANI, MD, RECEIVES BOARD CERTIFICATION IN ADVANCED HEART FAILURE AND CARDIAC TRANSPLANT BY THE AMERICAN BOARD OF INTERNAL MEDICINE. NUMC HIRES DEBORAH AHERN, NP WITH VAST EXPERIENCE IN HEART FAILURE TO LEAD THIS INITIATIVE.

East Meadow, NY…  Arthur A. Gianelli, President/CEO of the NuHealth System, proudly announced that the heart failure center at the Nassau University Medical Center is ready to throw its doors open to care for patients with heart failure. The center will be led by a team of nurses under the able leadership of Deborah Ahern, NP, with vast experience in caring for patients with heart failure, and who worked side by side with world renowned cardiologist Dr. Milton Packer for 18 years. The chairman of the department of cardiology, Dr. Sanjay Doddamani is one of 230 physicians in the United States who has received board certification by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant. Dr. Doddamani also currently serves as the co-chair of the North Shore-LIJ Health System’s task for heart failure.

“Today is a landmark in NuHealth’s capabilities for care of very sick patients who can now receive world-class care in heart failure. It also represents a culmination of priorities to raise the bar in quality by focusing on the number one cause for hospital readmissions,” stated Gianelli. “By introducing a hospital to home program that targets readmission, length of stay and mortality, we will have cardiology nurses and physician leaders who can see patients within 72 hours of discharge, reconcile medications, offer intravenous infusions soon after discharge and prevent patients from landing up back in the hospital”

Steven J. Walerstein, MD, FACP, NuHealth’s executive vice president for medical affairs and medical director, added, “Our cardiology partnership with the North Shore-LIJ Health System has led to an intensified effort to improve mortality outcomes in acute MI and heart failure. Being able to offer patients the very best heart failure care will no doubt improve care of the elderly in our community”.

The department of cardiology performs over 6,000 annual imaging studies including echos and stress tests, sees over 2,000 annual outpatient visits, performs cardiac catheterizations, has established a reputable electrophysiology pacemaker and defibrillator program and now offers an inpatient and outpatient heart failure program. Dr. Sanjay Doddamani, the department chair is board certified in cardiology and internal medicine in addition to advanced certification in cardiovascular imaging and heart failure transplant. “I am confident in the abilities of Deborah Ahern, NP, our new heart failure director and her well qualified nurses, Mary Eng, RN, who has over 28 years of experience in cardiovascular critical care and Robyn Carano, RN, the center’s quality management nurse who will oversee the American Heart Association’s “Get With The Guidelines -HF” and other quality initiatives that track and focus on improving treatment adherence and reducing mortality,” Doddamani confidently remarked. “Heart Failure is cancer’s equivalent in cardiology” lamented Ahern, adding, “If we don’t fight back hard, it will eventually weaken and disable the elderly in our community”.

About the Heart Failure Center at NUMC
The new heart failure center is located on the 2nd floor of the DCB building at NUMC. Hours of operation are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Patients with risk factors like hypertension, ischemic heart disease and valvular heart disease may seek consultation. The center provides all aspects of cardiology diagnostic testing, laboratory services, IV infusion therapies, ambulatory Holter, loop implant, device monitoring and pre-transplant evaluations and diagnostic testing. In-patient scope of services include critical care, invasive hemodynamic monitoring, device therapy including defibrillator implantation and post-device care, inpatient education, hospital to home transitional care and post-discharge calls and visits. For more information, please call (516) 296-4949 or email dahern@numc.edu

Left to right: Mary Eng, RN, Thomas Maddox, cardiac patient, and Deborah Ahern, RN


ABOUT NUHEALTH
NuHealth is a Long Island health care organization delivering essential medical care and disease and lifestyle management to everyone at every stage of life.  Also known as Nassau Health Care Corporation, NuHealth is a public benefit corporation managing the operations of Nassau Medical Center, A. Holly Patterson Extended Care and a network of Family Health Centers that bring primary and specialty care out into the community.  By emphasizing wellness, cultural sensitivity and collaborative efforts with the North Shore-LIJ Health System, NuHealth is working to make good care more affordable and easier to access.

For more information about NuHealth or its Centers of Care, visit www.nuhealth.net.