Beckley ARH (BARH) Hospital has applied for a certificate of need from the West Virginia Health Care Authority for critically-needed cardiology services.
Approval would allow the hospital to provide therapeutic percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), a non-surgical, life-saving medical procedure for heart attack victims. The procedure opens a blocked or narrowed artery to restore blood flow to the heart muscle.
“This is about saving lives, pure and simple,” BARH Community CEO Rocco Massey said. “We are equipped and ready to provide this procedure. We meet the standards. It’s just a matter of receiving approval at this point.”
Currently, BARH patients who could benefit from PCI must be transported to other health care facilities in the region and the state. The time it takes to transfer the patient is damaging to the heart and can be life-threatening.
“We call it the ‘golden hour,’” Massey said. “Intervention is crucial during that first hour following a heart attack. We want to be able to treat patients appropriately rather than sending them elsewhere.”
The majority of people with heart attack symptoms arrive at community hospitals like Beckley ARH.
“Sadly, we’ve seen people die because we were forced to transport,” Massey said. “We don’t want to see more lives lost. One life is too many. This is our community, and these are our people. The region we serve is large. It includes not only Raleigh County but also our neighboring counties. We need to be able to treat patients immediately and provide the best care.”
Nearly 250,000 Americans suffer a STEMI (or ST segment elevation myocardial infarction) heart attack each year. This serious type of heart attack occurs when one of the heart’s major arteries is blocked. A STEMI requires rapid response from the entire medical team – from first responders to hospital cardiologists – because it has a substantial risk of death and disability. The best treatment is therapeutic PCI.
