DECATUR — Over 500 people attended an open house Nov. 17 at St. Mary's Hospital to tour the new Prairie Heart Institute facility and the hospital's new cardiovascular diagnostic services department.
"St. Mary's new facilities bring the future of health care to central Illinois today," Kevin F. Kast, president and CEO of St. Mary's Hospital, said at the open house. "We continue our commitment to provide exceptional care to our cardiovascular patients by providing them with the best cardiovascular team in Decatur and the latest technology to meet their needs."
The Prairie Heart Institute at St. Mary's has board-certified cardiologists and heart surgeons available all in one place. "It is our privilege to provide emergency and cardiovascular services to Decatur and the surrounding communities," Theresa Rutherford, chief operating officer at St. Mary's, said. "Our renovations allow us to serve our patients and their families in a beautiful new environment that supports them physically and spiritually. Our new cardiovascular diagnostics unit with a third state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization laboratory enhances access and reduces transport time for patients, and improves privacy and lounges for families that support them."
The new cardiovascular diagnostic services center is a full service cardiac center performing not only cardiac catheterizations, but also nuclear medicine studies, echocardiography and percutaneous cardiac interventions when needed.
The Prairie Heart Institute facility and the new cardiovascular diagnostic services department cost $7 million.
"This state-of-the-art center is a perfect complement to the dedicated and exceptional physicians, nurses and technologists who have been treating patients with cardiac and vascular problems at St. Mary's for years," said Dr. Jeffrey Trachtenberg, attending vascular surgeon and president of the medical staff at St. Mary's Hospital.
The earlier $50 million renovation at St. Mary's includes a new ER, main entrance lobby, admittance area, waiting area, gift shop and coffee shop, all of which were unveiled in November of last year. Parking at the hospital has also been reconfigured to make visitor and staff parking more convenient, with complementary valet service available at no charge for visitors.