Hospital leadership and members of the Cardiac Cath Lab team gather in the lab’s control room.
Approval Expands Access to Life-Saving Cardiac Procedure
Long Branch, N.J., August 15, 2022 – Monmouth Medical Center (MMC) has received state approval to perform non-emergent angioplasty procedures – a decision that enables residents in the region to receive potentially lifesaving cardiac procedures close to home.
For decades MMC, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, has been performing emergency angioplasties on patients experiencing the most critical type of heart attack. This New Jersey Department of Health approval authorizes the hospital to also treat patients diagnosed with non-emergent blockages during cardiac catheterization.
An angioplasty procedure, sometimes referred to as Percutaneous Coronary Interventions (PCI), is a minimally invasive technique used to open blocked arteries that deliver blood to the heart. An interventional cardiologist uses PCI to treat blocked vessels by threading a catheter through an artery in a patient’s wrist (radial artery) or upper leg (femoral artery).
“This approval enables residents of Monmouth County and the surrounding area to receive premier quality elective cardiac procedures close to home, allowing patients’ primary care physicians and cardiologists to participate in care decisions and improve outcomes,” says President and CEO Eric Carney.
This approval is a part of a system-wide initiative by RWJBH following Governor Phil Murphy’s recent approval of legislation expanding access to elective angioplasties to increase access to a comprehensive range of essential cardiac care for residents throughout New Jersey.
RWJBarnabas Health performs more elective and emergent angioplasty procedures than any other health care system in the state. To learn more, visit rwjbh.org/heart. For a referral to a Monmouth Medical Center cardiac specialist, call 888-724-7123.
Contact:
Kathy Horan
732-546-6317
kathy.horan@rwjbh.org