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Click here to view additional photos from the cardiac surgery simulation with members from the Cap Cod Hospital and BWH surgical teams.
After a year and a half of comprehensive training and preparation, BWH and Cape Cod Hospital (CCH) recently conducted their first joint cardiac surgical case as a result of a new partnership in cardiac surgery at CCH. Since mid-August, nine cases have been performed as a part of the joint program, led by cardiac surgeon Robert Rizzo, MD.
“The results have been excellent. Bringing BWH’s expertise to a community setting to meet the needs of patients on the Cape is a win-win situation,” said Rizzo, who explains that while routine cases will occur at CCH, complex cases will still be referred to BWH’s Boston campus.
Teams of surgeons, residents, nurses, anesthesiologists and other support clinicians have worked diligently to get this project off the ground after BWH and CCH’s referral relationship took on a new form last April when the Department of Public Health approved open-heart procedures to be performed in Hyannis. CCH is one of three community hospitals in the Commonwealth that were granted permission to pair up with a Boston tertiary care hospital to perform cardiac surgery at their site.
“These negotiations began more than three years ago and were the result of great cooperation between hospital cardiologists and cardiac surgeons,” said Lawrence Cohn, MD, chief of Cardiac Surgery at BWH.
“Our cardiac surgery nurses have had the benefit of teaching CCH staff the myriad of specialized clinical care needed during open-heart procedures and the subsequent post-surgical and step-down unit care,” said Sarah Thompson, RN, MSN, nurse manager, 8ABCD, who played a pivotal role in organizing the intense teaching program.
In addition to completing training with their CCH colleagues, a team of BWH OR nurses, ICU nurses, physician assistants and perfusionists are providing back-up during the program’s infancy. The Department of Anesthesiology at BWH is also providing back-up to their counterparts at CCH at this time.