Citizens Memorial Hospital open cardiovascular center

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Citizens Memorial Hospital in Bolivar has opened a new cardiovascular center, where the first cardiac catheterization procedure was performed April 20. According to a CMH news release, prior to the opening of the new center, all patients who required cardiac catheterization had to seek treatment elsewhere. |ret||ret||tab|

The procedure was done on 75-year-old Bolivar resident Leo Simpson. It was Simpson's sixth cardiac catheterization. |ret||ret||tab|

Cardiac catheterization is a procedure performed on the heart to help determine if there is a blockage in the arteries. During the procedure, a physician inserts a catheter a thin plastic tube into an artery or vein in the leg or the arm. From that point, the catheter can be advanced into the chambers of the heart or up to the coronary arteries.|ret||ret||tab|

Cardiac catheterization can measure blood pressure within the heart, as well as the amount of oxygen in the blood. The test also is used to obtain information about the heart muscle's pumping ability. In other procedures coronary angiography or coronary arteriography a catheter is used to inject dye into the coronary arteries. |ret||ret||tab|

Catheters with a balloon on the tip are used to open clogged arteries with a procedure called percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. This procedure also can be used to place an expandable metallic tube, or stent, in an artery to keep it open and improve blood flow. |ret||ret||tab|

Dr. Warford B. Johnson II has opened a full-time practice at CMH. He has been practicing internal medicine since 1975 and cardiology since 1985. He most recently worked at Ferrell-Duncan Clinic in Springfield, where he performed between 400 and 600 cardiac catheterizations per year. |ret||ret||tab|

"This is a great opportunity for me to participate in the development of a new cardiology program and a great opportunity for a rapidly growing health-care system to provide important new services to the people it serves," Johnson said in the release. "I'm confident these new services significantly will improve the quality and convenience of health care in Polk County and surrounding areas."|ret||ret||tab|

Others who will practice at the new Cardiovascular Center are Dr. Joseph Apostol, a board-certified cardiologist also from Ferrell-Duncan, Dr. Randy Mullens, a board-certified general and vascular surgeon, and Dr. Lyn Carlton, a board-certified radiologist. Clinic staff also includes Physician Assistant Jodi Flynn. Ancillary staff members include certified cardiovascular technologist Gary Lybbert, who has 25 years of experience; cardiac nurse Shelia McCurry, who has 16 years of experience and Tammy Carivou, a registered radiologic technologist who has worked at CMH for five years. |ret||ret||tab|

According to the American Heart Association, heart failure is the reason for at least 20 percent of all hospital admissions among persons age 65 and older. In the past decade, the rate for all hospitalizations for heart failure has increased by 150 percent. Heart disease, the No. 1 killer in the United States, claims more than 600,000 lives annually. |ret||ret||tab|

"Heart disease continues to plague the nation and our local communities. These new services are being developed at CMH due to high community need. Our new cardiovascular center (is) part of a five-year strategic plan for CMH and the communities it serves," said Donald J. Babb, CEO and executive director of CMH. "As long as heart disease continues to affect so many individuals in our service area, CMH will be here to provide the best available technology, along with the most skilled physicians available." |ret||ret||tab|

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