June 19, 2006
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Heart and vascular diseases affect more than 71 million Americans and are the leading causes of non-accidental deaths among Alabamians.
Redoubling its historically preeminent role in striking at these killer diseases, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is today formally dedicating the state’s best-equipped, most comprehensive facility for the diagnosis and nonoperative treatment of heart and vascular disease and other conditions. The new 55,000-square-foot UAB Heart and Vascular Center, a $33 million facility, occupies nearly an entire floor of UAB Hospital, features 13 state-of-the-art procedural labs, including labs for pediatric cardiology patients, and 26 private rooms for post procedure recovery. In addition, room for future growth is designed into the area.
“The UAB Heart and Vascular Center represents a new era in heart and vascular care for Alabama residents,” said Robert Bourge, M.D., director of the UAB Division of Cardiovascular Disease and center co-director. “This facility, with its highly advanced technology, places UAB among the finest centers anywhere for minimally invasive treatment of diseases of the heart, aorta, liver and other organs. Operationally, we have moved from four separate buildings into one comprehensive unit. From a patient perspective, not only do we have the best cath lab in the state and one of the top 10 cardiovascular medicine and surgical centers in the nation, we now offer what we believe is the most convenient and technologically advanced center in the state.”
The new facility is the largest in the Southeast in terms of square footage and number of labs. It also is one of the few centers in the country to completely integrate multiple lines of health care service within one unit. There will be five service lines within the UAB Heart and Vascular Center: vascular and interventional radiology, pediatric cardiology, interventional neuroradiology, diagnostic and interventional cardiology and electrophysiology.
The diseases treated by these groups include cardiac arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, coronary and peripheral atherosclerosis, acute myocardial infarctions (heart attacks), uterine fibroids, liver and gall bladder diseases, bone tumors and intracranial aneurysms.
To meet the growing technological needs and to best serve UAB’s patients, UAB has partnered with Phillips Medical to install advanced Philips Medical technology in all of its labs.
“Philips Medical technologies has provided their most advanced technologies in our new adult and pediatric, diagnostic and interventional catheterization labs, that enables our physicians to maximize resources, improve, and expand clinical applications,” said Marilyn Henry, associate vice president of UAB Hospital. “This partnership supports the UAB Health System’s goal of delivering quality patient care and services, while improving workflow and clinical efficiencies.”
“We have worked diligently to determine how best to provide care for all patients with cardiovascular and other diseases that is of the highest quality and most technologically advanced, while at the same time taking into account the environment of the facility for patients, visitors and the people providing catheterization services to our patients,” said Robert E. Koehler, M.D., chairman of the UAB Department of Radiology and co-director of the center. “In the new UAB Heart and Vascular Center, we believe we have not only created a facility to provide patients with the technology of the future, but also a facility of the highest quality to serve patients needing both routine and highly complex non-operative, catheter-based treatments.”
Over the next month, each service line will begin moving into the facility, with move in scheduled for completion by July 28. The first procedures in the new UAB Heart and Vascular Center are scheduled to begin the week of June 19.