New Space for VHVIOn Feb. 3, Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute moved all of its key procedure areas to a new home in the Critical Care tower, which originally opened in 2010. VHVI has just completed building out the fifth floor of the 11-story tower to meet the needs of providers and patients better.The fifth floor, which connects to Vanderbilt University Hospital and offers direct access to the cardiovascular intensive care unit, centralizes services and includes the electrophysiology lab, cardiac catheterization lab and cardiac observation unit. The new area also allowed for two additional procedure rooms, taking the total to nine, and features two hybrid OR suites, which could be converted into full operating rooms if needed. The space also makes the most of technology, including teleconferencing capabilities and a hemodynamic monitoring system with direct visualization of right ventricular function following surgery. Additionally, there is dedicated research space included on the floor. Patients and families will have larger, more private waiting areas and holding rooms. For the most acute patients, four bays open to the nurses’ station for direct observation.“Consolidating our procedure rooms, holding and waiting areas, and staff work space on one floor will result in improved care for our patients and greater efficiency for the staff caring for them,” said Keith Churchwell, MD, executive director and chief medical officer of Vanderbilt Heart.Sumner Regional Receives Chest Pain Center Accreditation with PCISumner Regional Medical Center (SRMC) in Gallatin recently announced the facility has received full accreditation with percutaneous coronary intervention from the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care. “When a patient is having a heart attack, the longer the time to treatment, the lower the chances of survival,” said Ray Pinkston, MD, medical director of the SRMC Emergency Department and for Sumner County Emergency Medical Services. Noting that the hospital staff and Sumner County EMS have worked diligently over the last few years to set up the best system possible for cardiac care at SRMC, he said the recent accreditation was validation that the team has been successful. “We can now treat patients as fast as … and as well as … the best hospitals in the country, right here in Sumner County.”Middle Tennessee Schools Participate in American Heart MonthIt’s never too early to start learning about … and taking care of … your heart. That’s a message being spread throughout Middle Tennessee during February, American Heart Month. To promote student health, more than 250 Middle Tennessee schools are teaching heart health and the importance of physical activity, participating in the American Heart Association’s “Jump Rope for Heart” and “Hoops for Heart” events, and raising awareness and funds for AHA research and education programs. High school students will participate in RED OUT, raising awareness of the AHA mission by selling T-shirts and then wearing them at sporting events.Participating schools include 54 in Davidson County, 29 in Rutherford County, 28 in Sumner County, 14 in Wilson County and 11 in Williamson County.