Wauwatosa, WI  -   After its first year of tracking chest pain and heart attack patient treatment results, The Wisconsin Heart Hospital (TWHH), has achieved the fastest door-to-balloon time of any hospital reporting in southeastern Wisconsin at less than 45 minutes. Door-to-balloon time refers to the period of time beginning with the patient’s arrival by ambulance to the emergency room to the moment the heart artery is opened with balloon angioplasty in the catheterization laboratory. The TWHH door-to-balloon time is also less than half the national guideline time of 90 minutes. 

“This savings of time is absolutely critical because time is heart muscle,” said Jack Manley, M.D., FACC, and Cardiologist at The Wisconsin Heart Hospital. “Once a patient experiences chest pain, the sooner we can get him or her appropriate treatment, the less damage there is likely to be to the heart muscle. This has a major impact on reducing a patient’s short and long-term complications. The less damage to the heart muscle, the greater the chances that the patient will be able to fully recover and go on to resuming a productive life. When you combine this with the fact that TWHH offers Milwaukee’s first nationally accredited chest pain center, the hospital’s cardiovascular care capabilities are second to none in the entire region.”

The Wisconsin Heart Hospital’s unique design offers a critical difference in patient care delivery. It is this design that results in the dramatically shortened treatment time. Cardiovascular patients have immediate access to catheterization rooms just a few steps away from the ambulance bay and the emergency department. “There are no delays from the time the ambulance arrives until artery-opening treatments are performed,” said Dr. Manley. “Unlike other hospitals which must attempt to retrofit existing facilities to achieve this type of design, The Wisconsin Heart Hospital was built to these specifications with maximum input from physicians, nurses and other key hospital personnel.”

About The Wisconsin Heart Hospital
An exciting, new era in the delivery of specialized cardiovascular care arrived in Wisconsin with the opening of The Wisconsin Heart Hospital (TWHH) at 10000 West Blue Mound Road (across from the Milwaukee County Zoo) in Wauwatosa. The new hospital opened its doors on January 26, 2004.

The partnership between cardiovascular, specialty physicians, the community, investors and Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare. has produced a 60-bed specialized care hospital dedicated to providing advanced and innovative cardiovascular medical and surgical services delivered in a unique acute-care and ambulatory setting. Offering a true patient and family-centered experience, TWHH’s facility design complements the evolving future of ambulatory cardiovascular care. The model was designed to improve upon conventional treatment paradigms and deliver a highly focused process resulting in:

· Shortened treatment times
· Reduced probability of higher procedure complexity
· Avoidance of post-procedural complications
· Hastened return of the patient to normal day-to-day activities

For more information, please visit www.thewisconsinhearthospital.com

Note: Interviews are available with patients who have benefited from the quick medical attention provided at TWHH. While our door-to-balloon average is under 45 minutes, we recently opened the artery of a 59 year-old woman in just 24 minutes. With no history of heart disease, she avoided serious complications and has fully recovered thanks to a quick diagnosis at St. Joseph Outpatient Center and quick transport by the Wauwatosa Fire Department paramedics to TWHH.
 
The Wisconsin Heart Hospital – The New Standard in Heart Care