Lexington Medical Center Receives Open Heart Surgery Approval

In a decision that will have a tremendous positive impact on the Lexington County community, Lexington Medical Center has received approval from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) to perform open heart surgery and therapeutic cardiac catheterizations. This approval is a significant milestone that will enhance the delivery of health care to the people of the Midlands and save lives.

The ability to provide full cardiovascular care to the people of Lexington County, including open heart surgery, has been a priority of Lexington Medical Center for years. Lexington Medical Center operates the second largest Emergency Department in South Carolina, treating more than 90,000 ER patients each year. In addition, the hospital operates two busy diagnostic catheterization labs. Each year, Lexington Medical Center has to transfer cardiac patients to other hospitals for treatment.

“With this announcement, Lexington Medical Center takes a significant step toward fulfilling our dream of providing comprehensive cardiovascular care to our Lexington County community,” said Mike Biediger, Lexington Medical Center President & CEO. “Lifesaving heart care will now be closer to home for the people we serve.”

DHEC approved Lexington Medical Center’s Certificate of Need request for full cardiovascular care on June 2, 2010. The CON was filed in conjunction with Providence Hospitals. Under the terms of the agreement, Providence Hospitals will de-license one of its open heart surgery suites and Lexington Medical Center will add one open heart surgery suite, in keeping with the state health plan.

“We are so encouraged by the cooperation and support among the hospitals in the Midlands,” said Thad Westbrook, chairman of the Lexington Medical Center board of directors. “Together, we’ve taken important steps toward improving the quality of care within the communities we serve.”

Lexington Medical Center already has space in its Surgery Department for an open heart surgery operating room. The hospital expects to begin open heart surgery 9 to 12 months from now.

The need for open heart surgery in Lexington County has never been greater. According to statistics from DHEC and the SC Office of Research and Statistics:

~Cardiovascular disease accounts for 1 out of every 3 deaths in South Carolina.
~More South Carolinians die from cardiovascular disease than die from cancer, pneumonia, the flu and vehicle crashes combined.
~Cardiovascular disease deaths increase with age and South Carolina’s population of people over age 60 is increasing.
~Lexington County is one of the fastest growing counties in South Carolina.
~In 2008, 331 Lexington County residents required open heart surgery and 1,153 required angioplasty procedures.

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It’s official: LMC is “Best Hospital” ten years in a row

Check out Sunday’s edition of The State newspaper! A special section features its 2009 “Best Of” winners. Readers have voted Lexington Medical Center the “Best Hospital” in the Midlands for ten years in a row. We appreciate the recognition and are honored to provide quality health services in our community.

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Lexington Medical Center is “Best Hospital” 10 Years in a Row

Lexington Medical Center

This morning we learned that readers of The State newspaper have once again voted Lexington Medical Center as “Best Hospital” in the Midlands of South Carolina in its “Best Of” competition. We have now received this accolade for *10* years in a row. The State will run a special feature to congratulate the winners on Sunday, July 19th.

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LMC Doctor: First in SC to do “Incisionless Surgery”

Lexington Medical Center has made medical history.

Dr. Marc Antonetti of the South Carolina Obesity Surgery Center talks about the ROSE procedure and incisionless surgery on WVOC radio.

Dr. Marc Antonetti of the South Carolina Obesity Surgery Center, a physician practice affiliated with Lexington Medical Center, successfully completed the first “ROSE procedure” at Lexington Medical Center this week. ROSE stands for Restorative Obesity Surgery, Endoscopic. This procedure is for patients who have gained weight back after gastric bypass surgery. Currently, only approximately 30 facilities in the United States offer this treatment.

“The significance is that it’s the first incisionless surgery in the state of South Carolina,” Dr. Antonetti said.

During ROSE, the surgeon will insert an endoscope through the patient’s mouth into the stomach pouch. The doctor then creates folds to make the stomach pouch smaller. Because there are no external cuts into the body, the procedure offers the advantages of reduced risk of infection, less post-operative pain, faster recovery time and no scars. The treatment can be especially important in South Carolina, which ranks 5th in the nation for obesity.

Dr. Marc Antonetti of the South Carolina Obesity Surgery Center is the first doctor in South Carolina to perform incisionless surgery.

Dr. Marc Antonetti and Dr. Glen Strickland of the South Carolina Obesity Surgery Center completed special training to do the ROSE procedure at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas earlier this year.

Some patients regain weight after gastric bypass surgery because of gradual enlargement of the surgically altered small stomach pouch. In weight loss surgery, the stomach pouch is made very small, which creates a feeling of fullness after just a small volume of food is eaten. When the pouch gradually enlarges, the feeling of fullness is no longer present, patients can eat larger meals and weight regain occurs.

Doctors say similar incisionless surgery may have future application for gall bladder surgery and appendectomies.

Dr. Antonetti talked about the innovative procedure on the WVOC Radio Show “Health Matters” broadcast live from Lexington Medical Center on Wednesday.

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General Assembly Commends Lexington Medical Center

The South Carolina General Assembly has passed a concurrent resolution commending Lexington Medical Center and Providence Hospitals for “collaboratively working to improve medical care for the citizens of the Midlands of South Carolina.”  The resolution is in response to a significant agreement the hospitals reached recently that serves to improve access to care.

On February 25, 2009, the hospitals announced that Providence Hospitals will support Lexington Medical Center’s efforts to secure an open heart surgery program and Lexington Medical Center will drop its objections to a proposed expansion at Providence Hospitals Northeast.

The resolution, introduced by senators Nikki Setzler, Jake Knotts, John Courson and Ronnie Cromer, and passed by both the state Senate and the State House of Representatives, states “the members of the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina, by this resolution, congratulate and commend Providence Hospitals and Lexington Medical Center, their leadership and employees for forging an agreement to work collaboratively for the betterment of the health and well-being of their patients and the citizens of the Midlands of South Carolina.”

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LMC and Providence Reach Significant Agreement

A note from Mike Biediger, Lexington Medical Center’s president and CEO:

Today is an important day for Lexington Medical Center and the people of Lexington County.  Below is information about a significant agreement between LMC and Providence Hospitals.  We believe this agreement will enhance our mission to provide quality health care that meets the needs of our community.  The agreement allows us to take a significant step toward securing the heart program we’ve long desired.  We’ll keep you up to date as the process moves forward.

Mike Biediger

Lexington Medical Center and Providence Hospitals Reach Significant Agreement

West Columbia, S.C.  – After several months of discussions, Lexington Medical Center and Providence Hospitals are pleased to announce the terms of an agreement that advances both of their efforts to improve health care delivery in the Midlands. Specifically, Providence Hospitals will support Lexington Medical Center’s efforts to secure an open heart surgery program and Lexington Medical Center will drop its objections to a proposed expansion at Providence Hospitals Northeast.

Thad Westbrook and Michael Kapp

Under the terms of this agreement, Providence Hospitals will support Lexington Medical Center in seeking regulatory approval through a joint Certificate of Need (CON) application. Within the application, Lexington Medical Center will request approval for one open heart surgery suite and the authority to perform open heart surgery and therapeutic cardiac catheterizations. If approved by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), Providence Hospitals will de-license one of its open heart surgery suites, allowing Lexington Medical Center to add a suite, in keeping with the 2008-2009 State Health Plan.

Lexington Medical Center has dismissed its lawsuit which opposes Providence Hospitals’ plans to expand and improve its existing Northeast facility. Additionally, Lexington Medical Center, upon licensing of the new heart program, would provide $15 million over a three-year period to Providence Hospitals in consideration of de-licensing one open heart surgery suite. Those funds will allow Providence Hospitals to reinvest in technologies and equipment for other service lines.

Lexington Medical Center’s unique situation as the only hospital located within Lexington County, with one of the state’s busiest emergency departments and a busy diagnostic catheterization lab, supports the need for a full service open heart surgery program to perform open heart surgery and therapeutic catheterizations. This agreement will allow Lexington to obtain such a program for the citizens of Lexington County.

Providence Hospitals believes that this joint CON application will not create new capacity in the open heart market, since no new open heart surgery rooms are being added to the service area. In addition, Providence believes that collaborating with LMC on the delivery of health care services and preserving the integrity of the health planning process is in the long term best interests of the Midlands community.  While each of the hospitals will continue to be strong health care competitors, they may now also be able to explore additional strategies that would serve to improve patient care.

Providence Hospitals President and CEO George Zara noted the impact of working collaboratively in coming to a resolution on the issue. “In keeping with our faith-based mission, it is incumbent that we move past these conflicts to focus on our common goals of providing quality patient care.”

Mike Biediger and George Zara

Mike Biediger, Lexington Medical Center’s president and CEO commented on the joint agreement, “For years, it has been our priority to make cardiovascular care more accessible to the people of Lexington County. We are now one step closer to achieving that goal. We fully expect that this agreement will allow us to address acute cardiac events in a more timely fashion, ultimately saving more lives.”

According to Thad Westbrook, chairman of Lexington Medical Center’s board of directors, “This agreement has been a long time coming and is an important milestone for citizens of Lexington County and the Midlands. The need for a full service open heart program for the people of Lexington County has never been greater, and we now see that our dreams may soon be realized thanks to this agreement with our colleagues at Providence Hospitals.”

Providence Hospitals’ board chairman Michael Kapp is optimistic about the understanding the two hospitals have reached. “I firmly believe that this marks a turning point in the relationship between Providence Hospitals and Lexington Medical Center. We have put aside our differences in order to pursue initiatives that will advance the delivery of quality health care for the people of the Midlands.”

Both Providence Hospitals and Lexington Medical Center appreciate the volunteer assistance of Mr. Frank Mood, senior vice president & general counsel for SCANA, during the mediation process.

Full Video of News Conference:

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