UT Medical Center to build region's first heart hospital

From University of Tennessee Medical Center

The University of Tennessee Medical Center is building the region's first heart hospital to further improve care for patients with cardiovascular disease.

Set to open in early 2010, the heart hospital, a $26 million, new four-story building will be built on the UT Medical Center's main Alcoa Highway campus in Knoxville to provide expanded inpatient hospital services for the medical center's Heart Lung Vascular Institute.

The announcement for the heart hospital came Thursday during a groundbreaking ceremony attended by physicians, medical center executives and community leaders.

"A heart hospital at the University of Tennessee Medical Center will be of tremendous benefit in helping those who suffer from cardiovascular and pulmonary disease in our community," said Joe Landsman, president and CEO. "A report by a task force of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association found that dedicated heart hospitals following the appropriate clinical guidelines saw improved outcomes in 20 percent of their heart surgery cases, and improved clinical care processes in 90 percent of their cases. The opportunity to even further improve the care we provide to our patients is absolutely our objective."

The project received state approval in April, but Landsman said the new inpatient tower has actually been in the planning for the past seven years, since shortly after the establishment of the Heart Lung Vascular Institute in 2000. The 126,000-square-foot building will be built to adjoin the front of the existing portion of the medical center.

The concept, according to Landsman, is to bring the best possible care and patient outcomes by maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of heart, lung and vascular services at the medical center. The coordination of care includes a close proximity and ease of access for physicians and staff between the medical center's cardiovascular intensive care unit, cardiac catheterization center, operating rooms, emergency department and UT Lifestar helicopter.

Crucial to the success of this concept, according to medical center physicians, is having doctors, nurses and other medical staff dedicated to working exclusively with cardiovascular disease patients using a multidisciplinary approach for care and treatment. The medical center's multidisciplinary approach to cardiac care began with the formation of the Heart Lung Vascular Institute in 2001.

"Our research shows that having a properly functioning dedicated heart hospital leads to better processes for care and improved patient outcomes," said Dr. Dale Wortham, a cardiologist at UT Medical Center. "Several of our physicians visited hospitals around the country with this type of facility and we're creating our heart hospital to incorporate the most effective elements and care plans in order to lead to the best possible care for our patients."

The main floor of the heart hospital will serve as the new front entrance to the hospital. Visitors will walk in to a four-story open air lobby and atrium area, which quickly leads to a main information desk, access to health information and artistic works showcasing medically significant advancements that have occurred in the East Tennessee region throughout the past 50-plus years.

The second floor will house a vastly expanded, state-of-the-art cardiovascular intensive care unit (CVICU). The 24-bed private-room unit adds six beds to the medical center's current CVICU. Each room will be large, easily accommodating families. Medical center officials said each room will offer to visitors and patients attractive design elements throughout the room and private restroom facilities, a television set and a sleeper sofa for a family member.

The third and fourth floors will be shelled-in and can be built out in a custom fashion, as the need arises, to accommodate the most prevalent heart, lung and vascular needs of the community. The building also will be built with the potential to increase to an eight-story heart hospital as demand increases in the coming years. The projects to complete the third and fourth floors and to construct floors five through eight would most likely both require additional state regulatory approval, Landsman said.

When it opens, the heart hospital will mark the first new inpatient building constructed at the UT Medical Center in a quarter of a century. The 12-story East Tower opened on the medical center's campus in 1984.

For more information about the UT Medical Center, visit online at www.utmedicalcenter.org.