University Hospitals Samaritan Medical Center Achieves Level II Cath Lab Designation

Dr. Luis Augusto Palma Dallan talks to members of his team at UH Samaritan Medical Center.

ASHLAND, Ohio – University Hospitals (UH) Samaritan Medical Center has achieved a Level II designation in their UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute cardiac catheterization laboratory. The designation comes from the Ohio Department of Health and increases the types of interventional and electrophysiology procedures that can be performed on-site. Additionally, cardiologist Luis Augusto Palma Dallan, MD has been promoted to Medical Director, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, at UH Samaritan.

A cardiac catheterization laboratory, or “cath lab,” is a procedural area in a hospital where doctors perform minimally invasive tests and advanced cardiac and electrophysiology procedures to diagnose and treat cardiovascular issues.

“UH Samaritan is committed to providing our community the highest quality of services. The ability to move the cath lab to level II, paired with the addition of Dr. Dallan, will allow the caregiver team providing cardiology services, interventional procedures and follow up to remain local in Ashland, decreasing travel for patients and families,” said Sylvia E. Radziszewski, RTT, MBA, UH Samaritan Chief Operating Officer. “UH Samaritan is focused on continuing to improve the services we offer to our community. We are grateful to the leadership of UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute for their support and vision to keep care local, and the generosity of the Samaritan Hospital Foundation for the grant to improve the cardiology services within the high-quality cath lab.”

The Level II designation enables the cath lab to perform the following procedures:

• Intracoronary administration of drugs
• Left heart catheterization
• Right heart catheterization
• Coronary angiography
• Basic diagnostic electrophysiology studies not involving transseptal puncture;
• Intra-aortic balloon pump
• Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI or balloon angioplasty)
• Intravascular Ultrasonography (IVUS) / Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR)
• Peripheral Vascular diagnostic and interventional procedures
• Device implantation, including, but not limited to defibrillators.

“We are excited to transition our Samaritan cath lab from Level I to Level II. This means bringing the highest quality interventional and electrophysiologic care to Ashland and Richland counties,” said Mehdi Shishehbor, DO, MPH, PhD, President, UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute and the Angela and James Hambrick Chair in Innovation. “Now, patients presenting with a heart attack can be treated in a timely fashion, close to home. Additionally, many procedures that couldn’t be performed locally, can now be performed at UH Samaritan with the state-of-the-art cath lab, and experienced interventional cardiologists and teams.”

UH Samaritan now has the same cath lab designation as UH Geauga, UH Portage, and UH St. John medical centers.