With individuals experiencing many different forms of heart and vascular disease, no one treatment works for everyone.  There are approaches that can include lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise. 

Sometimes, treatment is an emergency situation. Physicians in the Meridian CardioVascular Network have developed treatments and services for heart attack that save lives:

• SPEED: Meridian works with Monmouth-Ocean Hospital Service Corporation (MONOC) to equip their vehicles and transmit EKGs from the scene to Meridian hospitals before you arrive, ensuring that the most appropriate treatment is delivered in the timeliest manner.

• EXPERIENCE: Emergency angioplasty is available 24/7 at each hospital — a life-saving technique to unblock arteries in certain cases of heart attack.

• QUALITY: Meridian hospitals are among the leaders in quality scores for heart attack in the State Hospital Performance Report.

• REPUTATION: Meridian has nationally accredited Chest Pain Centers that ensure rapid diagnosis and treatment of heart attacks through carefully executed protocols at each hospital.

• INNOVATION: An advanced protocol for cooling the patient - hypothermia - which research shows helps prevent brain damage and improves outcomes in certain cases of a heart attack.

• COMPREHENSIVENESS:  Jersey Shore University Medical Center has the only cardiac surgery program in Monmouth and Ocean counties and consistently produces among the most and best outcomes in the state.  Seemless transfers from area hospitals are coordinated when surgery is needed.

 

Treatment can often require an interventional procedure such as an angioplasty.  Experienced cardiologists at Meridian have performed thousands of lifesaving angioplasty and stent procedures to clear blocked arteries.  They treat more than ten times the number of interventional patients than all other hospitals in Monmouth and Ocean counties combined, and are among the leaders in the tri-state area.

 

Jersey Shore features a next generation operating room, specially designed to combine interventional procedures and surgery based on the unique needs of the patient.  The hybrid operating room allows minimally invasive cardiac surgery procedures with catheter-based intervention in these cases.

 

Jersey Shore also offers the only cardiac surgery program in Monmouth and Ocean counties.  Surgeons continue to achieve outstanding patient outcomes. In fact, Jersey Shore’s cardiac surgery outcomes rival some of the nation’s best. Specific cardiac surgery specialties include:

• Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting
• Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting
• Mitral Valve Replacement and Repair
• Aortic Valve Replacement
• Endoscopic Vein Harvesting
• Minimally Invasive Valve Replacement/Repair
• MAZE procedure for Atrial Fibrillation

In contrast to treatments when heart blockages occur, other serious conditions are impacted when the electrical system to the heart malfunctions or suddenly becomes very irregular.  Each hospital has experienced electrophysiologists adept at pacemaker procedures used in treating many of these cases.

The Heart Rhythm Center at Jersey Shore University Medical Center has state-of-the art equipment and licensure to treat the full range of these conditions.  Here, Jersey Shore is advancing another innovative approach to treating arrhythmia with a minimally invasive catheter-based procedure for atrial fibrillation using a robotic system designed to facilitate complex procedures with accurate and stable control.  The procedure room houses the most advanced mapping and imaging equipment controlled by leading electrophysiologists in the field.  Jersey Shore is also the only hospital in the area that can perform Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) procedures. For treatment of congestive heart failure, a biventricular pacemaker or ICD may be used to reduce symptoms and improve cardiac function.

 

The Congestive Heart Failure Program provides comprehensive services for heart failure patients, including a multi-disciplinary team of state licensed, board certified nurse practitioners who work closely with heart failure patients and their physicians to control symptoms and prevent future hospitalizations through a comprehensive disease management program. 

 

Each of the hospitals offers cutting edge stroke treatment in the designated Stroke Centers, and the Meridian Transfer Center coordinates transportation to Jersey Shore for interventional procedures from neuro-specialists when appropriate for the following cases:

• Subarachnoid Hemorrhage
• Aneurysm or Arteriovenous Malformation
• Complex Ischemic Stroke (IA tPA; MERCI)
• Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Each hospital offers comprehensive vascular treatment options including minimally invasive approaches where possible.  The advantage of these nonsurgical interventions is that risk, pain and recovery time are reduced. No general anesthesia is required and hospital stays are shorter than with surgery. In some cases, these procedures can be performed on an outpatient basis.

Vascular treatment encompasses a full range of procedures including:

• Thrombectomy to remove blood clots
• Stent grafts to repair aneurysms
• AAA (Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm) Repair
• Carotid surgery and stenting
• Endovenous laser treatment to treat varicose veins
• PAD (Peripheral Artery Disease) surgery 
• Dialysis access procedures to enable dialysis patients to receive treatment

Ocean Medical Center developed the region’s first endovascular surgical suites, specifically designed to combine the efficiency of a surgery center within a hospital to ensure the highest quality of care.  Riverview was the first in Monmouth County to develop a dedicated endovascular suite.

 

Read our physician perspectives on Treatment within the Meridian CardioVascular Network

 

Meet our CardioVascular Network Physicians