Acheson Foundation Creates $650,000 Challenge for Heart Care
The James C. Acheson Foundation has awarded $650,000 to Partners at Heart, a joint venture of Mercy Hospital and Port Huron Hospital, in the form of a matching grant. This grant will fund imaging equipment to create a dedicated Electrophysiology Lab at Port Huron Hospital. The grant will encourage other donors to support this expanding service in cardiac care for patients across the Thumb Region.
When the match is completed, $1.3 million will be available for the program. This will support a cardiovascular lab dedicated to electrophysiology.
Heart disease is often thought of as a problem with the arteries supplying the heart or with the heart muscles. However, some patients have abnormalities in the "electrical" conducting systems that regulate cardiac rate and rhythm. The Partners at Heart electrophysiology program specializes in the management of cardiac arrhythmias and arrhythmia-related problems.
"The science of electrophysiology studies the electrical system of the heart by examining disturbances of heart rhythm under controlled circumstances," explains Electrophysiologist Ajay Krishen, MD, an independent physician with Cardiology Associates, PC, in Port Huron. "In a specially equipped lab, I insert small electrode catheters through blood vessels in the heart. These electrodes allow me to map the heart's electrical currents and to identify a heart's 'hot spots' and 'short circuits', rhythms that are abnormally fast or slow."
Depending on the diagnosis, treatments vary. Treatment options include cardiac ablation, pacemaker implantation and the insertion of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator.
"Heart disease impacts everyone," said Donna Niester of the James C. Acheson Foundation. "Providing funding for the electrophysiology program ensures that the full range of treatment for heart disease is available close to home."
Partners at Heart, a joint program of Mercy Hospital and Port Huron Hospital since 1993, provides comprehensive, high quality cardiac care to Michigan's Blue Water communities. Mortality, stroke and kidney failure rates for Partners at Heart surgical patients are better than state and national rates, enabling residents of the area to access high-quality care without leaving the community.