Cardiovascular Services
The Heart Center at YRMC
YRMC’s New Cardiac Surgery Program Is “Definitely First Class”
After several years of planning and preparation, The Heart Center at YRMC – a state-of-the-art cardiac surgery program – is now open and fully operational at Yavapai Regional Medical Center’s West Campus in Prescott. The Heart Center’s overall objective is to both improve the health of our patients and the quality of their lives.
“We are extremely pleased to offer this new program to area residents and their families,” says Tim Barnett, Chief Executive Officer at YRMC. “As the population of our communities grows, so do the healthcare needs. YRMC is continually looking to the future to anticipate those needs – and cardiac surgery was at the top of our list.”
Barnett says that YRMC is particularly fortunate to have nationally recognized cardiac surgeon Pierre R. Tibi, M.D., leading its heart program. “Dr. Tibi’s reputation and qualifications are impeccable,” says Barnett. “His presence alone vaults The Heart Center at YRMC into the top tier of Arizona cardiac surgery programs.”
Dr.Tibi, a founding partner of Phoenix Cardiac Surgery, has the official title of Medical Director of Cardiothoracic Surgery. He earned his medical degree at the University of Pittsburgh and did much of his surgical training at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
Years of Thoughtful Planning
“YRMC has worked diligently and has done a very careful job of building this program,” says Dr. Tibi. “We have recruited many experienced nurses, the entire team is highly trained, the equipment and technology is leading edge, and the operating rooms are the best.
“Everything YRMC had done in planning and building The Heart Center at YRMC is definitely first class.”
Phase I of The Heart Center’s cardiovascular program dates back to 2005. At that time, specialists began utilizing the hospital’s two state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization laboratories to perform percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). These are minimally invasive procedures that use balloon-tipped catheters (a long, thin, flexible tube that is inserted into an artery and guided to the problems area) and stents (a tiny metal coil or mesh tube) to open blockages in the coronary arteries.
Patients with heart rhythm disturbances or congestive heart failure were also seen during The Heart Center’s Phase I, with YRMC physicians implanting permanent pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators and cardiac resynchronization devices.
Phase II of the program began with this year’s official opening of The Heart Center at YRMC and the introduction of open-heart surgery.
An Exceptional Level of Care
Dr. Tibi, who has a long association with Prescott-area cardiologists, says The Heart Center will provide local heart patients with an exceptional level of care, and spare them and their families the inconvenience and the stress of having to travel to Phoenix.
In addition, cardiac patients often need comprehensive care for a wide range of other health problems, including diabetes, gastrointestinal problems, kidney complications and lung conditions. These patients are best served in a medical center such as YRMC that offers a wide selection of specialized services and programs, as well as the skills of highly trained physicians and nurses.
With the addition of The Heart Center, YRMC is now – more than ever before – able to provide surgery-related benefits that simply aren’t available in a non-hospital setting or in an outpatient surgical center that’s not affiliated with a first-class hospital.
YRMC is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is staffed around the clock to meet practically any emergency that might occur following either an inpatient or outpatient surgical procedure.
Wide Range of Services
At Yavapai Regional Medical Center we are known for our Total Healing Environment, in which we work in partnership with patients and their families to provide peace of mind and peace of heart, as well as physical cure and comfort.
This philosophy of care, combined with the latest technology and expertise in cardiothoracic (heart and chest) surgery, allows The Heart Center at YRMC to offer personalized care and positive outcomes … one heart at a time.
The Heart Center’s services cover diagnosis, treatment, surgery, rehabilitation and education, and include:
- adult cardiothoracic surgery
- a cardiac catheterization laboratory and angiography department
- interventional radiology services
- cardiopulmonary services
- vascular surgery
- cardiac rehabilitation and preventive medicine
- critical care services.
“YRMC now offers a tremendous selection of surgical services, cardiac and otherwise, as well as a number of high-caliber diagnostic and interventional programs – and together they substantially strengthen our long-standing commitment to quality care,” says CEO Barnett. “It is a commitment that is at the heart of everything we do.”
Cardiac Surgery Cornerstone Was Laid in the 20th Century
Though 2007 will always be remembered as the year Yavapai Regional Medical Center became a respected provider of high-quality cardiothoracic surgical services, the cornerstone for The Heart Center at YRMC was actually laid more than a decade earlier.
It was in the mid 1990s that YRMC administrators began planning a new four-story wing at the hospital’s West campus in Prescott. This wing, which opened in 1999, contained space for the first of two state-of-the-art YRMC cardiac catheterization laboratories – an essential component of any cardiac surgery program. Then, several years later, the North Expansion Project at YRMC West provided more space and a second cath lab was added, as well as cardiac surgical suites and recovery areas.
Having adequate space and the latest technology and equipment is, of course, key to any top-of-the-line surgical program – but so is the expertise of the physicians, nurses, technicians and other specialists.
Pierre R. Tibi, M.D., YRMC’s Medical Director of Cardiothoracic Surgery, has nothing but praise for the outstanding cardiac team YRMC has assembled.
YRMC Cardiac Service Milestones:
- Existing Cardiopulmonary Lab & Cardiac Rehabilitation Program – Pendelton Center
- 1997 - Start of Vascular Surgery
- 2000 – Opening of Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory & Angiography Department
- 2005 – PCI Program begins
- 2005 – Expansion of Arrhythmia / Heart Function Program
- 2005 – ELG
- 2006 - Surgical Expansion to include CVOR
- 2007 – Open Heart Surgery begins