Building a New Home for Heart Care
JCail | 3/12/2008, 8:46 p.m.
On Thursday, February 28th, a massive heart-shaped ice sculpture parted, inviting guests to experience the first free-standing heart hospital in the Texas Medical Center. Other highlights of the grand opening event included:
• For the first time in Houston, artist Jim Dine unveiled his new three ton heart sculpture on display at the Institute for six months. His repeated use of familiar and personally significant objects, such as a robe, hands, tools, and hearts, is a signature of his art.
• Eclectic composer Andrew Nishikawa conducted a 28-piece chamber orchestra performing Sinfonietta Con Brio, a piece commissioned by the Heart & Vascular Institute specifically for the opening. Nishikawa spent hours listening to the sounds of 400 heart beats in composing the piece.
Additionally, cardiologist turned Napa Valley vintner, Dr. Madaiah Revana, poured his newly released 2004 Revana Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Revana Wine can be found in many 5-star restaurants around the country.
The Heart and Vascular Institute – Texas Medical Center opened for patient care in March 2008. The $92 million facility houses 147 patient rooms and six cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology labs with room to expand. Its six operating rooms include an endovascular suite that enables minimally invasive and open procedures in the same room.
Currently named one of the nation's 100 Top Hospitals® for cardiovascular care by Thomson Healthcare for the third year in a row, the Heart and Vascular Institute – TMC is the only cardiovascular facility in Houston and one of four hospitals in Texas to receive the honor.
Among the key findings from the 2007 Thomson 100 Top Hospitals: Cardiovascular Benchmarks for Success study:
• If all cardiovascular hospitals achieved the same results as the Heart and Vascular Institute – TMC and the rest of the 100 Top Hospitals award winners - more than 7,000 lives would be saved and nearly 750 medical complications would be avoided annually.
• Award winners, such as Heart and Vascular Institute – TMC, reported hospital stays that were 12 percent shorter, on average, than peer hospitals (5.14 days compared with 5.85 days).
• The 100 Top Hospitals reported costs that averaged 13 percent — or about $2,000 — less per case than peer hospitals.
• There was also a large difference in the volume of heart procedures performed by the winning hospitals and their peers. The 100 Top Hospitals performed nearly two-thirds more coronary artery bypass grafts and percutaneous coronary interventions such as angioplasty.
“We are proud to be recognized as one of the country’s leading heart hospitals in a comparison that is based on stringent criteria and quantifiable results,” said Erin Asprec, chief executive officer of Memorial Hermann Heart & Vascular Institute-TMC. “This award highlights the world-class care that our physicians and staff provide to each and ever patient.”
An integrated health system, Memorial Hermann is known for world-class clinical expertise, patient-centered care, leading edge technology, and innovation. The system, with its exceptional medical staff and 19,000 employees, serves southeast Texas and the greater Houston community. Memorial Hermann’s 15 hospitals include three hospitals in the Texas Medical Center, including a level 1 trauma center, a hospital for children and a rehabilitation hospital, as well as three heart & vascular institute locations and eight suburban hospitals. The system also operates an air ambulance, cancer, imaging and surgery centers, sports medicine and rehabilitation centers, outpatient laboratories, a Wellness Center, a chemical dependency treatment center, a home health agency, a retirement community and a nursing home. To learn more, visit www.memorialhermann.org, or call 713-222-CARE.
As the nation’s leading source of information products for the healthcare industry, Thomson provides tools and vital insights that healthcare managers use to improve the performance of their organizations. Thomson is a Thomson healthcare business. For more information about the 100 Top Hospitals, visit www.100tophospitals.com.