Commonwealth Health Regional Hospital of Scranton will invest $15 million into the establishment of a Heart & Vascular Institute and the expansion of its intensive care unit.
The 12,000-square foot Heart & Vascular Institute will be situated on the second floor of the hospital in an area currently used as a conference center and physical therapy, it was announced recently by CEO Brooks Turkel.
The Institute will include the recently completed endovascular laboratory and will allow for all cardiac-related procedures to be performed in the same general area. Construction will begin as soon as permits are in place with completion of the Heart Institute expected in early 2017 and the ICU later next year.
The creation of the Institute will include the expansion of the Regional cardiac service line to include transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, a surgical procedure for patients who are not candidates for open chest surgery.
Turkel also announced the recruitment of Nishant Sethi, M.D., who specializes in TAVR and other minimally invasive heart valve repair and interventional cardiology. He will be one of 23 physicians who will practice cardiology and cardiothoracic and vascular surgery at the new Institute.
The ICU will expand from 16 to 24 beds.
Features of the Heart & Vascular Institute:
- three cardiac catheterization labs
- one electrophysiology Lab
- newly created endovascular suite
- 10 private prep/recovery rooms
- A five-bay, post-anesthesia area
- A cardiovascular diagnostics area (electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, vascular laboratory and cardiac stress testing)
The cost of the project includes the construction of the Institute, purchase of new cardiology equipment and relocation expenses for the conference center.
