West Valley Opens New Cardiac Catheterization Lab
With Wednesday's ribbon cutting and grand opening, West Valley Medical Center continued its commitment to offer southwest Idaho and eastern Oregon residents more local options when making important healthcare decisions.
More than 50 people gathered at 1:30 p.m. at West Valley's new Cardiac Electrophysiology Catheterization Lab in Caldwell to celebrate the project, which expanded the hospital's previous catheterization suite from 1,400- to 6,000-square-feet and upgraded its X-ray and 3-D mapping equipment to provide highly accurate images of the heart and major vessels.
"Advanced cardiac services are now available to patients and families on the west end of the (Treasure) Valley and eastern Oregon," Patrick Bridges, executive director of Cardiology and Imaging Services at West Valley, said. "No longer are they required to drive the distance to downtown Boise to receive advanced technology, personal care and life-changing therapies."
Cardiac catheterization is a medical procedure used to assess the function of the heart. A thin, hollow tube -- called a catheter -- is inserted into an artery and threaded into the heart. Whether the problem is electrical, such as an arrhythmia, or structural, in the case of coronary artery disease, the technology offered in a catheterization and electrophysiology suite allows physicians to locate the root of the problem and provide potentially life-saving treatment.
New services and procedures available to Canyon County residents as a result of this $ 3 million expansion include:
- Angioplasty and coronary artery stent placement
- MRI-compatible pacemaker and defibrillator placement
- Ablation and hybrid ablation
- Cardiac resynchronization therapy
- Cardioversion
- Atherosclerosis atherectomy
- Pericardiocentesis
- Intravascular ultrasound
- 3-D electrophysiology mapping
"West Valley has been very committed to trying to make those services available but also state-of-the-art with this new expansion," Dr. Lyndon Box, an interventional cardiologist with West Valley Cardiology Services, said. "It's … one of the nicest facilities in this region and we're really excited to be here working to help out the people of Caldwell."
The expansion, designed by Lombard-Conrad Architects and constructed by Contractors Northwest Inc., broke ground in November 2014. Guests at Wednesday's grand opening enjoyed heart-themed treats and tours of the new facility by West Valley's physicians and staff.