COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Kootenai Health is the Inland Northwest's largest community-owned hospital. Now, it's even bigger.
The hospital gave KREM 2 News the first inside look at the newly renovated and expanded Heart Center, which opened earlier this fall. The upgraded facility features several new cardiac patient rooms, a new catheterization lab, and a new electrophysiology lab.
“That’s what I am," Cardiac Electrophysiologist Dr. Ronald Jones said. "I’m a heart electrician.”
Dr. Jones is also one of the new faces you'll find in the center after the expansion allowed for the recruiting of new cardiologists.
“Yep, I was part of the expansion process," he said.
The upgrades have allowed Kootenai Health to bring in those new doctors and new technology for them to use.
"The rooms we had were over ten years old, approaching 15 years," said Dr. Eric Wallace, an interventional cardiologist. "That does run the end of its life span.”
Dr. Wallace says the heart center's expansion is part of a phased approach to the hospital's continuing growth. He says they've also upgraded the ER and other areas of the hospital to meet the growth and demand in the area.
"The heart center’s something that’s been overdue for a while," Dr. Wallace said. “We were really bursting at the seams with how much we could get through and how much could get performed in one day.”
“Across the U.S., patients are getting older and here in Coeur d’Alene, we see a lot of people moving in, which is a double-edged sword," Dr. Jones added.
Now, the center will be able to see even more patients -- about 1,500 more treatments in the cath lab alone every year. That means shorter wait times and the ability to handle more emergencies.
“So, now patients that are at risk for sudden death can get defibrillators they need. Patients that had arrhythmias that affect quality of life can get those treated," Dr. Jones said.
Later down the road, the plan is to add more cardiac services, too. Dr. Jones says he hopes to see lead extraction added for their patients within the next year.
"There’s only one other place in Idaho that I know of that offers lead extraction, which is in Boise," he said.
He says that's a service they currently have to send patients out of state to receive. The hope is this new expansion will keep more of Kootenai Health's patients in Kootenai County.
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