Heart and vascular health problems tend to increase with age. Situated on the border of two of the fastest-aging states in the nation—New Hampshire and Vermont—the need for comprehensive cardiovascular care in the Upper Valley and all around the region is critical. Residents of the Granite and Green Mountain states are fortunate to have the expertise of an academic medical system at their fingertips in Dartmouth Health, especially the Heart & Vascular Center at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC), but increasing capacity issues at DHMC is making it harder for cardiology providers to deliver care to their patients.
“Currently, we’re constrained by space. Every day, we turn patients away who want—and need—to come to DHMC for their heart and vascular care,” said David B. Min, MD, director of clinical cardiology at Dartmouth Health. Fortunately, the opening of DHMC’s new Patient Pavilion this spring will provide a solution to many space concerns at the hospital, including for the Heart & Vascular Center.
Opening in May 2023, the Patient Pavilion will house Heart & Vascular on all of its Level 4 in the Patient Pavilion, Wings A and B, as well as Level 3, Wing B, for a total of 48 beds at DHMC. “It’s a remarkable, beautiful space,” said Min. “I’ve been in hospitals on four continents—in the newest facilities in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, in addition to hospitals all around North America. The new Patient Pavilion is truly state-of-the-art, incorporating cutting-edge technologies that will help us diagnose and treat patients faster. This will allow us to see more patients and open up our cardiovascular intensive care unit to accept even sicker patients.”
The state-of-the-art rooms in the Patient Pavilion will give patients and their families more privacy, and space for loved ones to stay overnight. “The rooms also incorporate contemporary technology to help patients understand their condition as well as their treatment plan,” Min said. “Integrated tablets with MyChart Bedside will increase the ability of patients and family members to communicate with the care teams. There will also be conference rooms where we can connect with patients and family members to have conversations about their care.”
In addition, the expanded unit will feature wireless monitoring technology, which will give patients the freedom to move around and gain their strength back more quickly. Electronic signage both inside and outside of patient rooms will be updated in real time to alert the care team regarding changes in their condition.
“The Patient Pavilion represents a real advancement in heart and vascular care,” Min said. “Dartmouth Health is known as one of the leading providers of heart and vascular care in the country. The opening of the new Patient Pavilion at DHMC will only add to that reputation.”
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and largest private employer, serves patients across New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,300 providers in nearly every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH. Its network of hospitals, outpatient centers, clinics and home care facilities, spans a broad geographical area. Year after year, DHMC is named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is consistently recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, northern New England’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of less than than 60 total nationally; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital (Children’s Hospital at DHMC/CHaD) and more than 20 locations around the region; eight member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont, Hampstead, and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Dartmouth Health Home Care; Dartmouth Health Connected Care Center for Telehealth, serving patients as far away as Texas; and more than 30 primary and multi-specialty clinics across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its partnership with Dartmouth College, Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and the White River Junction VA Medical Center, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials with international impact. Dartmouth Health and its more than 16,000 employees are committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in the communities it serves and to providing every patient with exceptional, state-of-the-art, personalized care. Learn more at dartmouth-health.org.