The Campus

Louisiana Medical Center & Heart Hospital is in a modern facility  located in Lacombe, Louisiana…..”The Heart of St. Tammany.”

Concierge Desk

In the front lobby of the Louisiana Medical Center & Heart Hospital a concierge greets all of our patients, families, and visitors. The concierge's primary duty is to help with whatever needs hospital patients or their families may have. If it's patient information, hospital directions, restaurant, hotel, shopping information, or even a blanket our concierge will be there to assist.

If it is anticipated that a family member may have to leave the hospital for a period longer than he/she feels comfortable with, the concierge will provide a pager. In the case of an emergency, or simply when the family member has recovered from surgery, the concierge will send a page.

Day Patient Area

This area prepares and educates both the patient and their family of the procedure the patient is scheduled for. At other hospital facilities, these rooms are normally divided by curtains, providing little to no privacy. Heart Hospital's day patient area has 12 private rooms, each equipped with a television and seating for the patient and family members' comfort.

Catheterization Laboratory

Louisiana Medical Center & Heart Hospital is home to 3 state of the art catheterization labs helping physicians diagnose and treat cardiovascular disease. One of the three catheterization labs is dedicated to the diagnosis of vascular disease, which includes the carotid arteries (which when diseased can cause strokes), renal arteries, aorta, and the vessels of the legs.

These labs feature GE equipment, known throughout the healthcare industry for its outstanding image quality and lower x-ray radiation dose to both the patient and staff. WITT digital equipment eliminates the need for film and film processing, which lowers the cost of this procedure.

Some of the services performed in the catheterization labs are:

• Cardiac Catheterization
  
• Angio-jet and TEC (Thrombectomy Procedures)
  
• PTCA - percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (balloon)
  
• PTCRA - percutaneous transluminal rotational atherectomy (rotorooter)
  
• DCA - directional coronary atherectomy
  
• PTA - percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (balloon on peripheral vessels, renals, etc.)
  
• Stents - both coronary and peripheral
  
• Thrombolytic Therapy (TPA, urokinase)
  
• Intravascular Ultrasound
  
• Myocardial Biopsy
  
• Shunt and Fistulagrams
  
• Renal Angiography
  
• Peripheral Angiography
  
• Diagnostic Coronary Angiography
  
• Carotid and Cerebral Angiography
  
• Pulmonary Angiography

Electrophysiology Laboratory

The Louisiana Medical Center & Heart Hospital's electrophysiology lab (EP lab) includes all the latest and greatest equipment available today in treating irregular heart rhythms. An EP lab is used by cardiologists who specialize in problems of the heart that cause irregular and sometimes life threatening changes in the heart's normal beating pattern. In the EP lab these specialists, known as electrophysiologists, are able to diagnose and treat abnormal heart rhythms.

Some of the services performed in the electrophysiology labs are:

• AICD (Implantable Cardiodefibrillators)
  
• EP Studies - electrophysiology, including ablation
  
• Temporary and permanent pacemakers

Operating Rooms

Louisiana Medical Center & Heart Hospital's surgical operating suites are 30 percent larger than an average operating room. Two of the operating suites are used for heart surgery, and a third suite offers the latest treatments for peripheral vascular disease.

• CABG (bypass surgery)
  
• Valve replacement
  
• Aneurysm
  
• General surgery
  
• Other surgery procedures may be performed as necessary

Patient Care Area

Patient Care areas are divided into eight "pods," or units each with a nurses' station. There is one nurses' station for every seven patient rooms. From the stations, nurses are within footsteps of each patient. Nursing staff get to know the patients better because they are likely to remain in the care of the same nursing team throughout their stay. Nurses have a chance to observe a patient's condition more closely, talk with their families, and alert doctors to changes.

In a traditional hospital setting, a patient could be exposed to as many as 30 or 35 different health care staff during one day. In the way the Louisiana Medical Center & Heart Hospital is organized, that number is reduced to five or six familiar faces in a day. This approach to patient care promotes understanding, bonding and continuity of care.

In the patient care areas the patient is monitored with a system known as "pick-and-go", supplied by Siemens. This "pick-and-go" concept allows us to provide uninterrupted monitoring from patient admission to discharge, using fewer monitors overall. This continuous monitoring means better care for the patient.

Louisiana Medical Center & Heart Hospital is built for patient-focused care. Our patients have access to advanced technology and surgical techniques in a hospital specially designed for their treatment and recovery. From admission until discharge, patient care focuses on personal needs, comfort and convenience. All rooms are private and are designed and equipped for every stage of patient care. We minimize the transporting of patients, encourage family involvement in the recovery process, and provide a comfortable setting for all involved.

Ancillary Services

Ancillary services, such as Pharmacy, Radiology, Laboratory, and Respiratory Therapy are all located along the middle corridor of the 58-bed patient care floor. In most hospitals, patients are moved around from room to room depending on where the equipment is located. They may also be moved from one unit to another as their condition changes. At the Louisiana Medical Center & Heart Hospital, each room is a private, self-contained intensive care unit. Equipment and staff come to the patient. The usual wheeling-around the hospital from one floor to another is eliminated. We strive to minimize patient transport by bringing portable testing equipment to the patient's bedside, rather than the patient having to be wheeled throughout the hospital to testing areas. In the event that we are unable to do the test in the patient's room, the patient is transported only a short distance. For detailed information about each of our Ancillary Services, please read below.

Radiology

The radiology department of the Louisiana Medical Center & Heart Hospital contains many of the various modalities of medical imaging including Diagnostic Radiology, Digital Fluoroscopy, CV StatTM, Echocardiography, Abdominal Ultrasound, Vascular Ultrasound and Nuclear Medicine. Many procedures are performed at the patient's bedside following the Patient-Focused Care model. Radiology Technologists take advantage of the opportunity to cross-train into other modalities to increase their knowledge and increase the quality of patient care.

Lab Services

The Clinical Laboratory at Louisiana Medical Center & Heart Hospital has been designed with the needs of the cardiovascular patient in mind. Equipment was chosen for the ability to provide not only quality results, but to be able to provide those results in a very quick and efficient fashion. The staff of the Laboratory have been trained to function in Laboratory specialties that are unique to a cardiovascular facility. Staff members also enjoy an expansion of traditional lab roles that permit teaching, consultation, and interaction with other clinical team members, patients and their families.

Pharmacy Services

Pharmacy services at Louisiana Medical Center & Heart Hospital are focused on having the medications at the nurses' fingertips. Our use of Baxter's Sure-Med Dispensing System ensures quick access of the medications frequently used by our physicians. Our turn-around time for a first order is minutes compared to a national average of 4.3 hours. Physicians as well as nursing staff can access the Sure-Med System for ease of medication delivery.

Respiratory Services

The Respiratory Therapy Department at Louisiana Medical Center & Heart Hospital is unlike that of other hospitals; there are no different levels of therapists for job roles. The same therapist that does the initial screening or function testing could well be the same therapist that sets up the ventilator and manages the patient from extubation to post-op routine therapy. Unlike other hospitals, many patients know our staff on a first name basis and are at ease when they approach them post-operative therapy.

Emergency Center Features

• Available 24 hours, 7 days a week
  
• The first Northshore hospital to provide Medtronics LifenetTM a pre-hospital rapid EKG transmission system
  
• All physicians are Board Certified.
  
• Little to no wait to be seen, assessed and treated.
  
• Registered Nurses are specially trained in Cardiac Emergencies
  
• Physicians, Registered Nurses and Technicians are certified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
  
• Advanced equipment and treatment protocols are used by the staff
  
• Home of CV Stat, an emergency referral and transport program providing care to outlying communities
  
• Heart Emergency Center is easily accessible from I-10, I-12, I-59
  
• In-house "State of the ART" CT Scan and MRI for rapid diagnosis and treatment
  
• Two dedicated trauma rooms

Heart Hospital Café/Food Services

With Louisiana Medical Center & Heart Hospital's patient focused care approach special attention was placed on the menu and food delivered to patients, family, and guests. Everyone at Louisiana Medical Center & Heart Hospital are treated to delicious meals with heart healthy ingredients.