A boost for Suffolk heart care

Dr. Alan Hartman is chairman of cardiothoracic surgery at North Shore-LIJ Health System and heads Southside Hospital's new cardiac surgery program.

February is heart health month - a time of year when the emphasis on caring for the heart includes the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women movement, offerings of free heart-health screenings, and state reports on cardiac surgery and angioplasty at hospitals. And, of course, hearts abound on Valentine's Day.

That's a lot of publicity - but based on statistics, we still need to do much more because, despite increased awareness, heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States and here in New York State. In New York alone, more than 70,000 people die from heart disease every year.

Heart disease awareness programs often focus on diet, exercise and symptoms. But true awareness means looking at access to cardiac surgical services by analyzing economics, geography, transportation, gender and race.

On Long Island, one major issue involving cardiac surgery access for residents of Suffolk County's South Shore was recently rectified when the state Department of Health approved cardiac surgery programs at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore and Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip. The Southside program is an extension of the North Shore University Hospital open-heart program in Manhasset. It began on Valentine's Day and is now providing this necessary service to Suffolk residents. Good Samaritan plans to begin open-heart surgeries later this year.

The state's decision to allow for additional cardiac surgical programs is an important step in the fight against heart disease. A hospital can't decide on its own to open a new cardiac surgery program. A need for the service must exist and then the ability to meet that need with a quality program must be demonstrated through the state's Certificate of Need application process. Among the factors the state considered in extending North Shore University Hospital's cardiac surgery program to Southside was the fact that 400-500 of open-heart surgery patients at North Shore in Manhasset and at LIJ Medical Center in New Hyde Park came from Suffolk County. To establish the cardiac surgery program at Southside, North Shore-LIJ invested $14.3 million to build new space, hire staff and purchase equipment.

For years, Suffolk lagged behind Nassau County when it came to cardiac surgery access. With a geographic area more than three times the size of Nassau and a population of 1.6 million people, Suffolk had only one cardiac surgery program, at Stony Brook University Hospital. By contrast, Nassau County has open-heart programs in North Shore University Hospital, Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, plus LIJ Medical Center just over the Nassau border in Queens. This meant Suffolk County's South Shore residents either had to travel north to Stony Brook or west to Nassau County and beyond for their cardiac surgical care, an inconvenience to be sure but for many a good deal more than that.

Residents of the South Shore of Suffolk who rely on public transportation were the most compromised. With a lack of train service or a single bus line directly connecting the South Shore to the lone cardiac surgical program at Stony Brook, family and friends - who play vital roles in patient recovery, were left out of the cardiac surgery recovery process. That was unintentional, but it was also bad medicine. Cardiac surgery care also includes several outpatient follow-up visits crucial to continuity of care.

By improving the access to care for greater numbers of Long Islanders, investing in new technology and treatment, as well as enhancing community awareness about the causes, symptoms and treatment of cardiovascular disease, health care providers can do more than ever before to fight heart disease. But we can't do it alone. Individuals must adopt heart healthy behaviors that include appropriate diet, daily exercise and annual checkups. Only then will we be able to say that we've turned the tide in the war against heart disease.