About Us
At the Heart & Vascular Institute at Sacred Heart Hospital, we blend the best of cardiology services and vascular care to provide outstanding, comprehensive interventional procedures and heart disease management – whether you are experiencing a heart attack or stroke, are recovering from one of these events or simply need to start a guided exercise program to lower your risk.
Our accomplished cardiologists, vascular surgeons, interventional radiologists and talented medical staff have the experience and expertise necessary to determine the most effective, least invasive treatment options tailored to meet your individual needs.
We use the latest techniques to open clogged arteries and treat other cardiac problems, and we offer some of the most advanced vascular imaging and intervention in the state. Among these innovative and leading-edge offerings are heart attack treatments, cardiac catheterization and heart rhythm management.
At Sacred Heart, we bring you not only the latest cardiovascular technology in the industry but also the medical expertise to support its operation. Some of the technological highlights of our growing program include:
- Offering western Wisconsin’s only use of the life-saving MERCI Retrieval System. In emergency stroke cases, this technology provides hope when the window of opportunity for conventional drug therapy has closed.
- Being the only hospital in the area to perform intra-arterial cerebral thrombolysis, a life-saving procedure that dissolves blood clots in the brain.
During a heart attack, time is muscle. Our objective is to open blocked arteries as rapidly as possible. National guidelines from the time of arrival to opening blocked arteries have been set by Medicare, and Sacred Heart Hospital monitors performance to these guidelines very closely. We are meeting national guidelines and continue to improve upon those standards.
We have emergency protocols in place that allow a patient to be diagnosed with a heart attack within minutes and brought directly to our heart catheterization lab to open blocked arteries.
Sacred Heart Hospital has specialists on staff who implant pacemakers and defibrillators, and they assure these devices are maintained at the appropriate speeds.
We offer a full range of diagnostic and interventional capabilities including angioplasty, stent and drug-eluting stent placements and intravascular ultrasound.
In 2004, we opened the Center for Critical Care, designed specifically for complex cases such as heart disease. The unit features 14 beds with an investment totaling $13 million. And our nursing staff are highly trained, many with Critical Care certification – a voluntary advanced certification.
In 2007, Sacred Heart Hospital embarked on the development of a new Outpatient Cardiac Center that houses Cardiac Rehabilitation, Cardiac Diagnostics and physician office space.
In 2008, we opened our Heart & Vascular Institute with the addition of our Cardiac Surgery Program.
We have a full-service line to diagnose and treat your cardiac problems, and when your intervention is over, we have a comprehensive Cardiac Rehabilitation program to get you back on your feet faster. Our Cardiac Rehab program, open to anyone with heart disease, improves cardiovascular fitness, educates patients in risk factor reduction, helps you return to work and/or daily activities and promotes psychological adjustment.
There is hope here.