SVMC cardiology

 

 

STRIVING TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE ONE BEAT AT A TIME

You get one life and you get one heart. The board-certified cardiologists and associated practitioners at SVMC Cardiology are committed to helping you make the most of both.

Our patient-centered approach to care and personalized care plans maximize your quality of life while delivering the treatment you need when you need it.

Creating the appropriate treatment plan for your condition begins with a cardiac consultation. Your consultation is a chance for you to share your health history and current concerns with your cardiologist. All necessary exams and tests are conducted on-site by your cardiac care team. The results are shared and discussed directly with you so that you fully understand your condition, treatment options, associated risks, and potential lifestyle changes.

After a heart episode or surgery, there’s nothing our cardiac team and you want more than for you to just get back on your feet and live the life you want. That’s why we begin your rehabilitation program before you even leave the hospital. Through a combination of education and exercise, your personalized program will help you build strength and reduce your risk factors. Using the full range of cardio equipment in our Cardiac Rehab Center and under the watchful eye of our rehab team, you’ll improve your heart’s strength and capacity and get closer to resuming a full and active lifestyle. For more information about Cardiac Rehabilitation, click here.

In order to understand how well your heart is or isn’t functioning, an echocardiogram may be performed. This non-invasive procedure uses sound waves to produce images of your heart. Both of SVMC’s cardiologists are board certified in echocardiography and able to observe how your heart is pumping and identify any abnormalities in the heart muscle or valves. An echocardiogram allows our team to make the most informed and appropriate recommendations for the next steps in your care.

If a standard echocardiogram does not provide a clear image of your heart, your SVMC care team may recommend a transesophageal echocardiogram or TEE. Performed at the hospital, this procedure involves inserting a flexible tube containing a transducer down your throat and into your esophagus. From this closer vantage point, the transducer then uses sound waves to create more detailed images of your heart and allows for better diagnosis.

Before we treat your heart, we need understand how it’s performing. At SVMC we offer a number of non-invasive stress tests that can quickly and easily reveal a number of things including: how well your heart works during increasing levels of activity; how certain medications are impacting blood flow; the effectiveness of procedures done to improve heart performance; and more.

If you have risk factors for heart disease, calcium scoring may may help you learn more about whether you are actually at risk. The non-invasive test uses high-speed CT imaging technology to measure the hardening of the heart’s arteries, a leading indicator of heart disease and heart attacks. Visit the calcium scoring page for complete details. 

A pacemaker is one of the most effective ways to ensure a heart maintains a steady, healthy beat. The SVMC cardiac team is exceptionally skilled and experienced at both pacemaker implantation and monitoring. Considered a minor surgery, implantation takes place at the hospital with most patients returning to normal activity (and a more steadily beating heart) within a few days. Like all medical equipment, pacemakers need a little TLC every now and then. At SVMC our cardiac team can perform routine monitoring, both remotely and in the office, and reprogramming as needed.

One of the most common cardiac diagnostic tools, an EKG is a painless way to check for problems with the electrical activity of your heart. The EKG translates and records your heart’s electrical activity over a period of time and translates it into waves. Your SVMC care provider can use printouts of the waves to detect any patterns that might point to a specific condition and put together a treatment plan that meets your specific needs.

Should your SVMC cardiac care provider want to monitor your heart over a longer period of time than is practical for a standard EKG, you may be given a Holter or event monitor. Worn outside the body and completely painless, monitors are helpful in detecting abnormalities that only happen occasionally and can help your doctor link any abnormalities to specific activities or events in your day.

Carotid ultrasound
At SVMC our goal is to treat your health issues before they become problems. Using our sophisticated carotid ultrasound test, your cardiac care provider can detect blockages in your neck arteries that could lead to a stroke or indicate problems in other parts or your circulatory system.

Education
Because understanding what causes heart problems is essential to resolving them, we offer a variety of educational resources to patients and their families.  Workshops are offered on an ongoing basis throughout the Dartmouth-Hitchcock network, and condition-specific literature is available in our offices. 

SVMC Cardiac Rehab

SVMC Pulmonology

American Heart Association 

Go Red for Women 

American College of Cardiology 

140 Hospital Drive, Suite 211, Bennington, VT 05201
Phone: (802) 442-0800
Fax: (833) 343-1597

Hours:
Monday – Friday:  8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Directions: 
For directions to SVMC Cardiology, click here. 

Parking:
For appointments at SVMC Cardiology, park in parking area P3 or P5.

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    Kathryn Czaplinski
    / Categories: NEWS, 2024

    Southwestern Vermont Medical Center Recognized for Excellence in Emergency Nursing

    BENNINGTON, VT—July 16, 2024—The Kendall Emergency Department at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) has been selected as a recipient of the Emergency Nurses Association’s 2024 Lantern Award for demonstrating excellence in leadership, practice, education, advocacy and research performance.

    The Lantern Award showcases emergency department’s (ED) accomplishments in incorporating evidence-based practice and innovation into emergency care. As part of the application, EDs are encouraged to share stories that highlight a commitment to patient care, as well as the well-being of nursing staff. The award serves as a visible symbol of a commitment to quality, safety and a healthy work environment.

    “Being on the front lines of patient care in our community comes with unique challenges and triumphs,” said Pamela Duchene, PhD, APRN, Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President of Patient Care Services at SVMC  “For our ED team to be recognized among just 94 departments, nationwide, demonstrates the level of excellence and commitment that has been fostered here.”

    The Kendall Emergency Department at SVMC is also the first ED in Vermont to receive the award.

    “This honor highlights the collaborative decision-making and shared governance within our ED,” said Jill Maynard, MSN, RN, CEN, director of Emergency Nursing at SVMC “This leadership model is a key attribute of our success, giving our team the tools and support they need to provide skilled and compassionate care to our patients.”

    In addition to influencing care within the organization, SVMC emergency staff are empowered to be leaders beyond the health system, impacting nurses and other healthcare providers throughout the state and country. In the last three years, SVMC’s ED nurses have presented at local, regional, and national conferences on topics including cultural humility, harm reduction, design considerations for emergency psychiatric care, and orientation strategies for new emergency RNs.

    SVMC President and CEO, Thomas A. Dee, FACHE congratulated the ED team on receiving the 2024-2027 Lantern Award, and noted that this prestigious honor is all the more impressive for being earned during a multi-phase renovation of the ED space, part of VISION 2020: A Decade of Transformation capital campaign.

    “This team never wavered in their care and commitment to excellence during the renovation of the Kendall Emergency Department, approaching any impact with flexibility and resourcefulness,” said Dee. “They truly exemplify SVMC’s mission of providing exceptional care and comfort to the people we serve.”

    SVMC’s Lantern Award will be on display in the emergency department. As a recipient, SVMC, a member of Dartmouth Health, will be recognized in upcoming ENA publications, on the ENA website and during Emergency Nursing 2024, the association’s annual conference in Las Vegas, Sept. 4-7.

    For more information on this year’s Lantern Award recipients, visit the Emergency Nurses Association website.

    PHOTO CAPTION: The nursing team at the Kendall Emergency Department at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), pictured here, recently received national recognition for excellence.

    ###

    About SVMC:

    Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), a member of Dartmouth Health, is a comprehensive, preeminent, health care system providing exceptional, convenient, and affordable care to the communities of Bennington and Windham Counties of Vermont, eastern Rensselaer and Washington Counties of New York, and northern Berkshire County in Massachusetts. SVMC includes the Dartmouth Cancer Center at SVMC, the SVHC Foundation, as well as 25 primary and specialty care practices. Southwestern Vermont Medical Center is among the most lauded small rural health systems in the nation. It is the recipient of the American Hospital Association’s 2020 Rural Hospital Leadership Award. In addition, SVMC is a five-time recipient of the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence. SVMC provides exceptional care without discriminating on the basis of an individual’s age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, language, physical or mental disability, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. Language assistance services, free of charge, are available at 1-800-367-9559.

    SVMC Contact: Kathryn.Czaplinski@svhealthcare.org

     

    About the Emergency Nurses Association

    The Emergency Nurses Association is the premier professional nursing association dedicated to defining the future of emergency nursing through advocacy, education, research, innovation, and leadership. Founded in 1970, ENA has proven to be an indispensable resource to the global emergency nursing community. With nearly 50,000 members worldwide, ENA advocates for patient safety, develops industry-leading practice standards and guidelines and guides emergency health care public policy. ENA members have expertise in triage, patient care, disaster preparedness and all aspects of emergency care. Additional information is available at www.ena.org.

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