Lourdes Heart Failure Center
Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center has launched a rare and valuable resource for heart disease patients with the opening of its new Heart Failure Center. The center's goal is to maintain or improve the quality of life of patients and to prevent emergency room and hospital admissions whenever possible.
The Center is a part of the New Jersey Heart Institute at Lourdes, one of a select group of heart centers around the country who are providing a base for ongoing maintenance care for heart failure. At Lourdes, patients can benefit from review of their fluid status, drug regimen, output from assist devices and other heart-related assessments.
The Heart Failure staff assess each patient’s fluid status, evaluate hemodynamics using a noninvasive monitor and conduct blood tests, including brain natriuretic peptide (BNP). If necessary, a diuretic like Lasix® is given intravenously to reduce fluid levels. The center also works with the hospital’s pharmacy and dietitians to regulate changes in the patient’s medication and nutrition regimens. Patients are evaluated and treated in collaboration with staff physicians and board-certified cardiologists from the New Jersey Heart Institute at Lourdes.
The center is located contiguous with Lourdes’ interventional and surgical facilities, patients have access to a full range of cardiac diagnostic and therapeutic options, should more aggressive treatment be required. Moreover, the center offers emotional counseling, family support and lifestyle assistance. It also connects patients and their families with integrative and complementary strategies, such as meditation and other relaxation techniques, offered by the Lourdes Wellness Center.
Cardiologists, internal medicine specialists and primary care physicians may refer patients to the center. Patients also can self-refer.
The typical HF patient presents with at least one of the following:
- systolic dysfunction [New York] Class 3 or 4;
- heart failure-related diastolic dysfunction;
- valvular heart disease;
- multiple ER visits for heart failure-related conditions (more than two in six months).
Download Heart Failure Brochure [256K PDF]
For more information, or to refer a patient, contact: Lourdes Heart Failure Center, Ann B. Townsend, RN, MSN, APN, Nurse Practitioner, Director at (856) 668-8888.
