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St. Francis Hospital Suspends Elective Cardiac Surgeries On 'Quality Of Care Issues'

By ARIELLE LEVIN BECKER

The Hartford Courant

July 7, 2009

St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, which advertises its cardiovascular program as the largest open-heart surgery center in the state, has temporarily halted all non-emergency cardiac surgeries at the recommendation of state health officials.

The decision to suspend the elective cardiac surgery program was voluntary, but comes as the state Department of Public Health investigates the hospital, health department spokeswoman Diana Lejardi said. She said the suspension occurred because of "quality of care issues."

A statement from the hospital said the health department recommended the suspension to provide time to thoroughly review the maintenance records of perfusion equipment — heart-lung machines used to keep blood and oxygen flowing during surgery — and to ensure that operating room staff are further educated on policies, procedures and emergency measures.

Hospital spokeswoman Tina Varona said the health department raised concerns about the maintenance and training of staff on perfusion equipment after a recent visit to the hospital.

Varona did not answer questions about why the health department visited the hospital or whether patient deaths were involved in the suspension.

Hartford Hospital began taking cardiac patients from St. Francis over the weekend and will stand by as long as necessary, Hartford Hospital spokeswoman Lee Monroe said. Monroe said the hospital does not anticipate any capacity issues.

St. Francis has heavily promoted its cardiology program, which it lists as one of the hospital's "centers of excellence."

Advertisements the hospital ran earlier this year described the Hoffman Heart and Vascular Institute as the state's largest open heart surgery center and as having the largest cardiac catheterization volume in central and northern Connecticut.

St. Francis performs approximately 1,000 open-heart surgeries a year, Varona said. The state health department has given the hospital permission to continue performing emergency cardiac surgery, she said.

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