Cedar Rapids’ Mercy Medical to offer open heart surgery

CEDAR RAPIDS - Cedar Rapids residents soon will have a choice in where they receive open heart surgery. Mercy Medical Center got the OK from the state to start a cardiac surgical program earlier this week, despite objections from UnityPoint Health-St. Luke's Hospital.

The Cedar Rapids hospital went before the State Health Facilities Council, part of the Iowa Department of Public Health, on Tuesday to ask for a certificate of need - which is required for new services and medical equipment of more than $1.5 million.

'Mercy has been laying a strong foundation for this next step in our heart program,” said Dr. Cam Campbell, medical director of cardiovascular services at Mercy, in a statement. 'We have invested substantial resources to ensure we have the expertise, facilities, technology and resources necessary ...

. Mercy has already initiated the recruitment process to bring in highly trained and experienced surgeons to join our growing heart team.”

On average, Mercy has to transfer 150 individuals each year to other facilities for cardiac procedures. That number, combined with other cardiac procedures, means the hospital would have well over the 200 necessary heart surgeries needed to begin a program, hospital officials said, adding it has exceeded that volume requirement since 2012.

The hospital said it believes adding the service is 'the right decision for the community and will result in better access to cardiac surgical care for patients and enhanced quality through seamless care coordination, allowing patients to receive a full continuum of heart care at Mercy.”

But St. Luke's - which has cardiovascular surgical program - was against the State Health Facilities Council granting approval, saying earlier this year that Eastern Iowa's need already is met.

'We are disappointed by the council's decision,” the hospital said in a statement. 'With open heart surgery volumes declining nationally and the demonstrated linkage between volume and patient outcomes in open heart surgery programs, we believe St. Luke's should remain the only hospital in the community to perform this complex and high risk surgery.”

St. Luke's added that its program is nationally recognized for having fewer complications, better outcomes and higher survival rates than peers nationwide.

'Maintaining this level of expertise requires commitment, dedication and a desire to be the best in the nation,” the hospital said.

St. Luke's performed 328 open heart surgeries in 2015, according to Iowa Hospital Association data.

The state's approval means Mercy's program will be among the five largest in Iowa, the hospital said. It added that Cedar Rapids residents are now offered a choice 'like other larger communities in the state.”

According to Iowa Hospital Association data, St. Luke's was responsible for 58.5 percent of all cardiology-related discharges (13,41) in a seven-county region - Linn, Benton, Jones, Buchanan, Cedar, Delaware and Iowa counties - between 2009 to 2015, and Mercy was responsible for 41.4 (9,499) percent of discharges.