The facilities have allowed the hospital to provide cardiac catheterization for the first time and reduce wait times for patients to receive imaging services, St. David's Georgetown CEO Kyle Landry said.
As the city of Georgetown continues to grow, the hospital plans to further expand its cardiac care to treat heart attacks, open a fifth operating room, and pursue advancements in oncology and orthopedics, Landry said.
The specifics
St. David’s Georgetown can provide minimally invasive procedures to diagnose and remove blockages in the heart through its new catheterization lab. The lab is offering diagnostic services with plans to begin stent placement services used to open blockages later this year, Landry said.
The new imaging center features three ultrasound rooms for vascular ultrasounds and echocardiograms, and an additional room that may be used to provide stress echocardiograms in the future.
Patients can now receive echocardiograms and vascular ultrasounds in an outpatient setting instead of checking into the hospital, Landry said. The outpatient center has allowed the hospital to cut the 30-60 days patients were waiting to receive these services almost in half, he said.
The impact
St. David’s Georgetown expanded its cardiac services so that Georgetown residents could receive care closer to home, Landry said. Previously, the hospital had to transfer patients needing cardiac catheterization to another facility.
“There's no interventional cardiac capabilities currently in the city,” Landry said about catheterization. “We wanted to be able to ... offer it here in Georgetown.”
Due to the prevalence of cardiovascular disease, the need for cardiac care has grown alongside the population, he said.
“There's been more and more patients with cardiac issues that have been coming in through our emergency room or being seen through our outpatient physician clinics,” Landry said.
Going forward
In early 2025, the hospital hopes to open a ST-Elevation Myocardian Infarction center, or STEMI, which would treat patients actively experiencing heart attack symptoms. When someone calls 911 with chest pain, they are brought to the closest STEMI center, which is outside of Georgetown, Landry said.
St. David’s Georgetown will also look to expand other practice areas, including oncology and orthopedics, Landry said. The hospital will begin offering mammograms again on April 1, and will seek to expand access and provide additional specialization in breast cancer treatments, he said.
St. David’s Georgetown aims to provide more specialized surgical procedures for various cancers, including colorectal, and expand the availability of orthopedic surgeons, Landry said.
The hospital also plans to open a fifth operating room in early 2025 contingent on funding approval, Facility Director Corey Woods said. The new $5 million operating room would be created by restructuring existing space and would allow the hospital to provide more surgeries to patients.
“We are always looking at ways that we can expand and meet the needs of the community,” Landry said.
