Cardiology
Cardiovascular Care Center
The Cardiovascular Care Center at Southwest Regional Medical Center offers enhanced diagnostic and treatment capabilities to aid in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease.
Cardiology services encompass stress testing either by treadmill or use of a chemical called adenosine or dobutamine, complete pacemaker follow-up, coronary CT angiograms, holter monitor application and analysis, EKGs, stress echo testing, echocardiograms, carotid dopplers, arterial dopplers and venous dopplers. Board certified cardiologists are available for consults. The echovascular lab is ICAEL accredited.
The Cardiovascular Care Center is co-directed by Dr. Michael Pecora of the Frazier-Hart Group and Dr. Praful Vora. Dr. Pecora and Dr. Vora provide 24/7 cardiology coverage for Southwest Regional Medical Center.
Also providing services in the Cardiology Department at Southwest Regional Medical Center are Dr. C. Michael Brown, Dr. John Costello Jr and Dr. James Richardson. Dr. Brown, Dr. Costello and Dr. Richardson are all apart of the Frazier-Hart Group.
“The Center provides the community with cardiovascular care which is as good as, if not better than, you can get anyplace else,” shared Dr. Pecora. “We offer the advanced technology and services of a large city, right here.”
The Cardiovascular Care Center at Southwest Regional Medical Center recently welcomed the addition of a new, state-of-the-art, 32-Slice Volume Computed Tomography (VCT) from GE Healthcare. The LightSpeed replaces the older CT technology previously used at Southwest Regional. The VCT offers an innovative way for physicians to obtain fast, highly accurate information needed to diagnose disease and life-threatening illnesses. This includes such things as cardiovascular disease, stroke and chest pain.
The VCT is able to capture images of a beating heart in five heartbeats, an organ in one second, and perform whole body trauma in ten seconds. This is more than twice as fast as a conventional CT scanner. This speed is especially helpful in shortening breath holds for geriatric patients, patients who are on ventilators and pediatric patients.
“This new system allows us to do exams with better speed and precision,” shared Jeanne Bell, Director of Diagnostic Imaging. “This technology will greatly benefit both the doctors and patients in our community.” These upgrades represent a $1.8 million investment in health care technology for our community.
“We can do anything that is not invasive,” added Dr. Vora. “Our services and technology will offer exceptional diagnostic and treatment options for those needing cardiovascular services.”
Talk to your doctor about our services or call (724) 627-2393 to schedule a test.