UTICA, N.Y. — Some, but not all, of the paused cardiac surgeries at Mohawk Valley Health System’s (MVHS) Wynn Hospital will resume this month, according to a press release from the organization. MVHS’s structural heart program will resume June 20 with the caveat that a cardiac surgeon is required to be present in the operating […]
UTICA, N.Y. — Some, but not all, of the paused cardiac surgeries at Mohawk Valley Health System’s (MVHS) Wynn Hospital will resume this month, according to a press release from the organization. MVHS’s structural heart program will resume June 20 with the caveat that a cardiac surgeon is required to be present in the operating room while any structural heart procedure is being performed. As of June 20, MVHS will have cardiac-surgeon coverage to perform transcather aortic valve replacements (TAVR), WATCHMAN procedures, and MitraClip implantations. TAVR is a procedure that replaces a diseased aortic value with a man-made valve. WATCHMAN involves implanting a device in the heart to treat atrial fibrillation and reduce the risk of a stroke. MitraClip is an implanted device that stops mitral valve leaking. It is implanted in a procedure called a transcatheter-edge-to-edge (TEER). Open-heart surgery is still paused at the hospital and will likely remain so for several more months. “Patient care and safety has been and will always be our top priority,” MVHS President/CEO Darlene Stromstad said in a release. “While there has been a frenzy of negativity around our decisions, the fact remains that the MVHS administration and board of directors keep patients as the focus of all that we do, and we act accordingly.” MVHS announced on May 8 that open-heart surgeries were paused at the Wynn Hospital, which opened last October, after the New York State Department of Health (DOH) expressed concerns during a site survey. At the time, MVHS said it would bring on an external organization to review the cardiac service and would collaborate with other facilities for those patients requiring open-heart surgery. MVHS received an immediate jeopardy notice, which is a term used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for a situation in which a provider’s noncompliance with one or more requirements of participation has caused or is likely to cause serious injury, harm, impairment, or death to a resident or patient, according to an email from DOH spokesperson Cadence Acquaviva. Facilities that receive an immediate jeopardy notice must submit an acceptable plan to improve the process that led to the deficiency and remove the immediacy of harm to patients. The immediate jeopardy is removed when surveyors verify the approved plan is fully implemented. According to the release from MVHS, review of the open-heart surgery program is well underway with an unnamed external medical agency. Officials expect the review to wrap up at the end of June, with it taking several more months to restart the program. MVHS officials stress the community should continue to visit Wynn Hospital for all cardiac treatment, especially time-sensitive issues such as heart attacks. Patients who may need open-heart surgery can be stabilized at Wynn before being transported to another facility for care.