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Health Care
World-Class Research and Treatment Coming with new Heart Institute
Doing it right for the right reasons.” That’s the way Steve Lawler‚ president of Pitt County Memorial Hospital‚ describes the new East Carolina Heart Institute‚ expected to open later in 2008. A partnership of the hospital and East Carolina University‚ the $210 million Heart Institute will combine world-class cardiovascular surgery and inpatient and outpatient care with university research‚ medical training and public education.
“The partnership between our medical center and East Carolina University is something that makes us strong‚ it’s something that makes us different in the market‚ and it’s something that adds value to the region because we’re both committed from a mission perspective to service‚” Lawler says.
The Heart Institute is the brainchild of Dr. W. Randolph Chitwood‚ a world-recognized surgeon who envisioned a seamlessness between cardiology and cardiovascular surgery.
The Heart Institute is physically two buildings‚ not connected but near each other. The $60 million ECU building will house outpatient treatment‚ research laboratories‚ education facilities and offices. Pitt County Memorial Hospital’s $150 million‚ seven-story bed tower is the result of the hospital assuming debt on the bond market. Lawler says most of the 160 beds will be dedicated to cardiovascular care‚ but 40 will serve other surgical and medically complicated patients.
“We’ve actually increased capacity not only in the cardiovascular arena‚ but it also provides us some additional capacity for medical and surgical patients‚” he says. “We’re getting a double bang for our bucks.”
In addition to that‚ the Heart Institute is anticipated to add more than 1‚000 jobs to the local economy.
Cardiovascular disease accounts for 40 percent of all deaths in North Carolina. In eastern North Carolina‚ the mortality rate from coronary disease is 12.9 percent higher than the rest of the state. Keeping track of how patients are treated and their outcomes through the Heart Institute will ultimately lead to better health for all North Carolinians‚ Chitwood firmly believes.
Story by Sharon H. Fitzgerald
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