MCDH acquires state-of-the-art heart monitors
8/5/04

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Mendocino Coast District Hospital (MCDH) is proud to announce that it has acquired a new state-of-the-art cardiac monitoring system in its Emergency Department. There are two mobile and two fixed monitors. The new cardiac monitors measure heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, blood oxygen content, and arterial and heart pressures and functioning.

“What is really exciting is that the new system also features 24-hour memory, which our previous monitors did not have,” says Marcia Weeks, Manager of Emergency and Critical Care Nurses and the Ambulance Service. Weeks adds that staff can view multiple patients on any single screen in addition to viewing them all at a central location, allowing for added patient safety.

Another reason that MCDH staff is so enthusiastic about the new cardiac monitors is that they allow for increased coordination between departments, as they all now use the same state-of-the-art technology. “Not a day goes by that I don’t appreciate these monitors,” says Susie Klotz, RN, CCU nurse. Now patients can stay on one monitor as they are moved between the Emergency and Critical Care Units, for example.

As always, MCDH has the ability to stabilize any cardiac patient in the Emergency Department and CCU, and can provide TNKase, otherwise known as the “clot-busting drug” for its patients that meet the required criteria.

The Cardiopulmonary Department MCDH offers an unusually wide array of services, considering the hospital’s small size and rural location. Among services offered are cardiology, Holter monitoring, five different types of stress tests, echocardiography and impedance cardiography.

Dr. Jason Kirkman, Director of MCDH’s Cardiopulmonary Department, is a Board certified Internist who has also passed the Examination of Special Competence in Adult Echocardiography (ASCeXAM) in 2000. Echocardiography is a diagnostic imaging technique that allows a physician to evaluate the structure and function of the heart. To give an idea of the uniqueness of this certification, Dr. Kirkman explained that he knows of only two of about 20 cardiologists in Sonoma County who have also passed this Board examination.

If a patient needs cardiac catheterization, he or she will be transferred by air ambulance, usually to Sutter Santa Rosa or Santa Rosa Memorial. MCDH does not provide cardiac catheterization because it is in such a small, rural area. Both Santa Rosa hospitals provide very positive feedback on the level of care provided by MCDH, and they also offer educational programs for local staff.

“MCDH is able to provide service that is very complete and extremely well done, which is routinely acknowledged by cardiologists in tertiary centers who treat patients that receive their initial evaluation and work up at MCDH,” says Dr. Kirkman. He added that he is proud to be affiliated with the Cardiopulmonary Department at MCDH because of its high quality of care, the great feedback from outside cardiologists, the flexibility of its employees and their commitment to patient satisfaction.