Memorial Medical dedicates Cardiac-Stroke Care Unit

Jan. 05--Officials from Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center were beaming on Thursday morning as they celebrated the opening of a new $4.3 million Cardiac/Stroke Care Unit.

The unit, they say, is designed to "close the loop on a complete continuum of care for patients with cardiovascular disease."

A 12,950-square-foot facility, the unit is located on the hospital's third floor and features 23 private rooms, including six higher acuity step-down rooms, along with an in-unit physical and occupational therapy facility to encourage quicker patient recovery. It replaces an outdated, 40-year-old telemetry unit on the hospital's fourth floor.

"The opening of this inpatient unit, a year after Memorial, Catholic Health, Kaleida Health and ECMC began operating the only cardiac cath lab in Niagara County on our campus completes the structural component of a heart care journey Memorial embarked upon a decade ago," Memorial President & CEO Joseph Ruffolo said. "From our ER1 Emergency Department to the Heart Center of Niagara to this high-tech, high-touch telemetry unit, to our new outpatient cardiovascular rehabilitation center -- we can now provide the complete continuum of care required to combat the rampant high rates of cardiovascular disease across Niagara County."

The unit's rehabilitation component will feature leading edge visual-motor and neuro-cognitive rehabilitation equipment that employs programmable, customizable testing and rehabilitation routines. Patients and their caregivers also will benefit from the unit's dedicated Patient-Family Resource Center.

"This will provide a comfortable space for members of our nursing staff to provide education on cardiovascular disease and instruct patients and their families on how to successfully transition from the hospital to home and community," Memorial Chief Operating Officer Sheila Kee said.

A Health Care Delivery System Innovators Fund grant financed $2 million of the project's cost. Memorial's Foundation, governmental and individual charitable contributions as well as direct hospital support funded the balance.

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