University of Toledo to Reveal Expansion of Cardiac Care and Research
By Julie M. Mckinnon, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio
Jun. 5–As part of a multimillion-dollar project focused on preventing and treating heart and vascular problems, the University of Toledo is combining access to medical care and research in the city and beyond.
UT’s Health Science Campus, formerly the Medical College of Ohio, today is to unveil plans to open an outpatient Cardiac and Vascular Center on the first floor of its medical center next May. The medical center also will continue working with Bellevue Hospital, partner with Fisher-Titus Medical Center in Norwalk starting next month, and open an outpatient clinic in Perrysburg in August.
Plus, UT will open a Cardiovascular Phenotype Core Laboratory in the Block Health Science Building at the end of this summer for its research efforts.
UT plans to do more with orthopedics, cancer, and other types of care at off-campus sites, providing more convenience for patients and a focus on prevention, said Dr. Jeffrey Gold, provost and executive vice president for health affairs.
“Our goal here is to keep patients out of the hospital,” added Dr. Gold, who also is dean of UT’s College of Medicine.
In Norwalk, three UT physicians will join Fisher-Titus’ medical staff next month to supplement cardiac services provided by Dr. Barry Zadeh, who joined the staff there and at Bellevue Hospital in August.
The two hospitals began working together to improve cardiac care in the Huron County area about a year ago, and Bellevue Hospital has had a relationship with the former MCO for about eight years, said Pat Martin, president of Fisher-Titus.
Fisher-Titus plans to break ground in October for a $8.5 million, 20,000-square-foot facility to house cardiovascular labs, cardiac rehabilitation, and physicians’ offices by next summer.
“It’s been a very good evolution,” Mr. Martin said.
The multifaceted UT project will be announced today while officials unveil the addition of a 64-slice computed tomography scanner, which other area hospitals also have.
The $1 million scanner allows doctors to quickly capture detailed images of the heart, which frequently appear blurry with traditional CTs, to detect early coronary disease and reduce the need for surgical procedures.
UT expects to spend about $2.7 million renovating space for the Cardiac and Vascular Center, which will occupy an area where orthopedic care currently is located. The Health Science Campus is opening a building dedicated to outpatient orthopedics in September.
Heart center expansions, meanwhile, are not novel in Toledo.
St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center’s $59 million Regional Heart & Vascular Center was fully operational yesterday after personnel moved patients in from the main hospital over the weekend.
Both inpatient and outpatient care is provided at the center across Cherry Street from the main hospital.
In 2005, Toledo Hospital opened a $4.5 million Heart Center to provide outpatient services.
Contact Julie M. McKinnon at: jmckinnon@theblade.com or 419-724-6087.
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