Tennova Healthcare Receives State Approval to Expand Cardiac Catheterization Services at North Knoxville Medical Center

4/26/2018

Health system offers both diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for patients with heart disease

KNOXVILLE, TN (April 26, 2018) – On Wednesday, April 25, the Tennessee Health Services and Development Agency (THSDA) unanimously approved Tennova Healthcare’s application for a Certificate of Need (CON) to expand the existing cardiac catheterization service at North Knoxville Medical Center in Powell to include interventional procedures, including balloon angioplasty and stenting.

“We are gratified that THSDA agreed our application met the criteria for approval, and we are excited to start offering therapeutic cardiac cath services to individuals from Knox County and surrounding East Tennessee communities,” said Clyde Wood, chief executive officer of North Knoxville Medical Center. “The ability to enhance access to interventional care is a positive step toward improving the heart health of the patients we serve.”

Both diagnostic and interventional cardiac catheterization services will be performed in the existing cardiac catheterization/vascular lab, which was built in 2015 to accommodate a wide range of procedures. It is anticipated that the first interventional cardiac catheterization procedure to be performed at the hospital will be scheduled for next week.

“Today’s CON approval means that heart patients will no longer need to be transferred to other area hospitals for therapeutic cardiac cath procedures,” said Barry Michelson, M.D., an interventional cardiologist with East Tennessee Heart Consultants in Knoxville. “This means we can now safely and effectively perform interventional procedures like coronary angioplasty, which is used to open arteries that have been narrowed by atherosclerosis.”

According to Dr. Michelson, in coronary angioplasty—also known as percutaneous coronary intervention or PCI—a catheter is entered into a blood vessel through an incision (usually in the leg or wrist) and is threaded to the heart. The catheter has a collapsed balloon at its tip. When the balloon reaches the targeted area, it is inflated to push plaque to the artery walls and widen the artery to improve blood flow. Approximately 70 percent of angioplasty procedures also involve stenting, which is the insertion of a small metal cylinder called a stent into a blood vessel.

“Cardiac disease is a leading cause of premature death in Tennessee as well as the Knoxville area,” Dr. Michelson said. “The ability to offer interventional cardiac cath procedures at North Knoxville Medical Center means we are now able to provide a higher level of care without the need for transportation to another hospital by ambulance, which delays the start of therapeutic treatment and involves risks to the patient as well as unnecessary costs.”

Tennova Healthcare offers cardiology services at North Knoxville Medical Center, Physicians Regional Medical Center, Turkey Creek Medical Center, Jefferson Memorial Hospital, Lakeway Regional Hospital, LaFollette Medical Center and Newport Medical Center. With more than 30 cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons and other specialists at multiple locations throughout the region, the health system is dedicated to offering better ways to treat and beat heart disease—close to home.

For more information or to find a doctor, call 1-855-TENNOVA (836-6682).

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