About the Dean & St. Mary’s Cardiac Center
Since the mid 1960s, the Dean & St. Mary's Cardiac Center has prided itself on being a leader in cardiovascular care.
Through a combination of skill and leading-edge technologies, Dean & St. Mary's cardiologists provide a wide range of cardiac diagnostic services including pediatric and adult cardiac catheterization, echo cardiography, stress and electrophysiologic testing and 24-hour monitoring services. Over 500 patients receive services through the pacemaker and defibrillator clinic, located at St. Mary's Hospital. Dean & St. Mary's cardiologists also provide up-to-date treatments in catheter ablation, atherectomy, stent, and balloon angioplasty.
Dean & St. Mary's cardiologists have performed over 20,000 cardiac catheterization procedures. The Dean & St. Mary's Cardiac Center was the local leader in developing cardiac catheterization into an outpatient procedure. The Cardiac Center performs the most bypass surgeries and most angioplasties in the area. In 2006, they introduced the Level One Heart Attack Program, to improve the speed and quality of care given to heart attack victims throughout the region. And St. Mary's is the first hospital in Madison with the revolutionary new 64-slice CT (computed tomography) scanner, which allows doctors to capture detailed images of the heart and arteries in seconds, without any invasive procedures and with no recovery time.
The Dean & St. Mary's Cardiac Center includes at the hospital a 37-bed nursing unit that offers 24-hour telemetry monitoring. The hospital's 12-bed Medical Intensive Care Unit and 10-bed Surgical Intensive Care Unit provide patients compassionate and highly skilled nursing care after critical cardiac injury or surgery.
Cardiac Surgery
Dean & St. Mary's cardiac surgeons perform over 600 procedures yearly including coronary bypass, valve replacements, and other surgical procedures involving the heart or its major vessels. Many of the individuals on the cardiac surgery staff have been part of the cardiac surgery program since its beginning in 1969. This includes surgeons, cardiologists and other physicians, perfusionists, nurses, technicians, physician assistants, and respiratory therapists.
Dean & St. Mary's has the largest cardiac surgery program in Madison (based on overall numbers of cases) and one of the top-ranked programs in the state (based on its low complication rates). These statistics are compiled each year by the state department of health and human services.
Over 600 Procedures Yearly
According to the American College of Cardiology, facilities that do at least 200 to 300 open heart procedures per year provide the highest quality of care. Dean & St. Mary's cardiovascular and cardiothoracic surgeons perform over 600 procedures yearly including coronary bypass, valve replacements and other surgical procedures involving the heart or its major vessels.
Cardiac Rehabilitation
The Cardiac Center's cardiac rehabilitation team consists of a clinical nurse specialist, exercise physiologists, dietitians, pharmacists, social workers and nursing staff. The hospital offers both Phase I (inpatient) and Phase 11 (outpatient, follow-up) cardiac rehabilitation.
The hospital's new Cardiac Rehabilitation and Pulmonary Rehabilitation areas opened in 2006 in the new St. Mary's inpatient building, providing ongoing education, support and carefully monitored exercise during the initial phases of recovery from a heart attack or after heart surgery. The center is equipped with exercise bikes, treadmills, and weight training equipment. Education is a major part of the program and is provided for enrollees and their families on-site.