ROSEVILLE – Sutter Roseville Medical Center was chosen by the State of California as one of six medical centers to offer both emergent and non-emergency angioplasty and stenting without in-hospital cardiac surgery backup as part of a California Department of Public Health pilot program.

Dr. George Fehrenbacher, medical director of cardiology at Sutter Roseville Medical Center, and the hospital administration team were instrumental in securing state approval for Senate Bill 891, which allows six community hospitals to serve as regional centers for outpatient emergent and elective interventional cardiology procedures. The other hospitals in the CDPH Elective PCI Project are in Los Alamitos, Walnut Creek, San Pablo, Clovis and Hayward.

In the past, only hospitals that also have full-time heart surgery programs – such as Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento – could perform these elective procedures, as the heart surgery option provided a safety net. However, angioplasty, stenting and other interventional cardiology procedures have become much safer and effective, and a very large June 2009 study by the American College of Cardiology showed that there was no difference in mortality whether a hospital has cardiac surgery backup on-site or at a nearby facility. For Sutter Roseville, cardiac surgery backup will be provided at Sutter Memorial Hospital via ambulance.

Sutter Roseville Medical Center has been South Placer County’s leader in treating cardiac emergencies and urgent intervention for years. In 2009, Dr. Fehrenbacher and his full-time interventional cardiology team at Sutter Roseville performed 150 PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention) procedures – such as angioplasty and stenting – on heart attack patients, and Dr. Fehrenbacher has a lifetime experience of more than 4,000 therapeutic catheterization procedures.

However, if a patient’s need for a PCI procedure was not deemed to be urgent or an emergency, the interventional catheterization would have to take place in a hospital that also provides 24-hour cardiac surgery. Dr. Fehrenbacher and other interventional cardiologists in South Placer County would schedule cath lab time at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento to perform the procedure there.

Beginning Aug. 1, under this pilot program, Dr. Fehrenbacher and his team of interventional cardiologists will be able to perform these non-urgent procedures at Sutter Roseville Medical Center.

“Studies have shown that the PCI success rate remains very, very high whether or not there is on-site cardiac surgery backup,” said Dr. Fehrenbacher. “By performing elective interventional procedures, our team will remain sharp when emergency PCIs come to the hospital.”

Being chosen for the CDPH Elective PCI Project comes on the heels of Sutter Roseville Medical Center being designated a regional Heart Attack Center by the Sierra-Sacramento Valley Emergency Medical Services Agency in March 2010. Similar to the regional trauma center protocol, the Heart Attack Center designation allows emergency medical personnel to bypass other hospitals if a patient in South Placer and neighboring counties is having a severe heart attack and is in need of emergency angioplasty or stenting.

In 2009, Sutter Roseville Medical Center prepared for both the Heart Attack Center designation and the Elective PCI Project by hiring the necessary staff and entering into agreements with other interventional cardiologists to provide PCI coverage 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

“Now residents in Placer and neighboring counties don’t need to travel to Sacramento to get the same quality care when they are having heart attacks or are having other cardiac issues,” Dr. Fehrenbacher said. “The administration at Sutter Roseville Medical Center has made cardiac care a priority, and this decision has already saved many lives in South Placer County.”

Sutter Roseville Medical Center is affiliated with Sutter Health, a not-for-profit, community-based health system located throughout Northern California. For more information on Sutter Roseville Medical Center, visit the Web site at sutterhealth.org.

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