Open heart surgeries at St. Mary's include coronary artery bypass grafts and valve replacements, as well as other corrective heart surgeries. We perform more than 300 heart surgeries each year. Physicians at St. Mary's work closely with specially trained cardiac nurses and other health care professionals to provide patients with the latest treatment available.

Rapid Recovery Program

In 1994, St. Mary's demonstrated its cardiac care leadership by initiating a successful Rapid Recovery Program, a relatively new, accelerated approach to treating heart surgery patients. The Rapid Recovery Program's goal is to provide high-quality, cost-effective care before, during and after heart surgery, thereby reducing the amount of time a patient must spend in the hospital. The goal is to be discharged four days after surgery. Program results how patients recover earlier, and with fewer complications, than patients with lengthier stays. Patient and family education is the first step toward rapid recovery. Education begins prior to surgery and continues throughout the hospital stay.

Once in the Cardiac Recovery (CVR) Unit following open heart surgery, a nurse is at the patient's bedside for the first 16 hours in the CVR to provide specialized care and reassurance. Shorter-acting anesthetics used during surgery allow patients to be awake and active as soon as possible. Many patients walk out of the CVR to their step down room the day after surgery.

After a heart surgery patient goes home, St. Mary's home health nurses, specially trained for the Rapid Recovery Program, provide daily follow-up visits. The home health nurses maintain contact with the cardiac surgery staff and together, they provide daily contact with the patient and family.