Methodist Medical Center treats all aspects of heart disease. Our award-winning cardiology services begin with the human touch – dedicated cardiologists, nurses and technicians. They combine extensive skills with the latest technology in bypass surgery, angioplasty, stenting, emergency treatment and rehabilitation.
When It’s a Heart Attack, Minutes Matter
At Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, patients seeking emergency care for a heart attack receive life-saving interventions 30 minutes faster than the national goal.
Methodist Medical Center consistently followed the treatment guidelines in ACTION Registry®-GWTG™ for eight consecutive quarters in ACTION Registry-GWTG and met a performance standard of 90 percent for specific measures to receive this 2015 award.
ACTION Registry–GWTG is a partnership between the American College of Cardiology Foundation and the American Heart Association with partnering support from the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care. For more information about ACTION Registry-GWTG, visit ACC.org/ACTION.
Methodist Medical Center is also one of only 78 hospitals in the nation to receive the American College of Cardiology’s Gold Performance Achievement Award for 2015 for implementing “a higher standard of care” for patients who have suffered a heart attack. Methodist also earned Performance Awards in 2011, 2012 and 2014.
Methodist is a Covenant Health “valve center” and offers the full continuum of heart-related care
Urgent Care
- One of the first chest pain centers in the area
- Average door-to-balloon times 30 minutes faster than the national goal
- One of only two hospitals in Tennessee recognized for heart care by the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline™ Program in an August 2010 issue of US News and World Report
- First hospital in the area to implement a hypothermia protocol which lowers a patient’s body temperature after cardiac arrest to reduce the risk of brain damage.
Diagnostic
- Echocardiography lab
- Cardiac stress lab
- 64-slice CT, which can capture images of the heart and coronary arteries in as little as five heartbeats
Surgical Procedures
All open-heart procedures including:
- Multi-vessel coronary artery bypass
- Endoscopic vein harvesting
- Mini-Maze, a minimally invasive procedure for treatment of atrial fibrillation
Interventional
- Cardiac catheterization lab
- Electrophysiology services
- Minimally invasive transradial procedures, which are currently utilized by only 5 percent of medical centers nationwide
- Only medical center in East Tennessee using the Impella device, the world’s smallest heart pump, for cardio septic shock and in high-risk heart procedures
Robotics
- Da Vinci robotics system available to cardiovascular surgeons who can perform procedures such as repairing faulty heart valves laparoscopically rather than through an incision and subsequent opening of the patient’s chest.
- First in East Tennessee to repair a hole in the heart robotically.
Cardiac Rehabilitation
- Cardiac rehab in Methodist’s 5,000 square foot facility offers an individualized plan of monitored exercise and education in a medically supervised environment.
Chest Pain Center
Patients with chest pains receive noninvasive cardiac monitoring and 24-hour nurse observation. They remain as long as necessary in a safe, quiet, comfortable environment. The Chest Pain Center is located in the Emergency Department.
What is Methodist’s Chest Pain Center?
- It’s an observation and treatment unit open 24 hours daily in the emergency department.
- Patients are seen in triage first, then taken to the acute area of the emergency department where it can be quickly determined if the patient actually is having a heart attack. If the patient does not have evidence of a heart attack, the patient can be placed in the Chest Pain Center for extended observation to look for more subtle evidence of heart disease.
- The center is a group of rooms in a quiet section of the emergency department.
- It’s where blood tests, EKG’s and possible stress tests are ordered and where pain is monitored.
- It’s available to individuals in need of immediate attention.
- The center helps get acute patients into the hospital system more quickly.
- It reduces unnecessary hospital admissions.
- The Chest Pain Center serves Anderson, Campbell, Morgan, Roane and Scott counties.
TAVR
- Covenant Health hospitals are leaders in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac-related health issues. Learn more about Cardiac Care and a new procedure called Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement, or TAVR.