The Carondelet Health Network will move its Heart & Vascular Institute from its site near the Catalina Foothills to west-side St. Mary's Hospital in six to nine months.
The institute - formerly known as Tucson Heart Hospital - was not "financially sustainable" at its current site, at 4888 N. Stone Ave. at River Road, and was outgrowing the facility, network officials said Thursday.
They wouldn't elaborate on if the facility was losing money or how much.
Tucson-based Carondelet is developing a plan to transfer all employees at the location to St. Mary's, 1601 W. St. Mary's Road, or to another hospital within its network, said Carondelet President and CEO Jim Beckmann. Carondelet's other hospitals are St. Joseph's on Tucson's east side and Holy Cross in Nogales.
During the transition, the heart institute will continue operating "at full strength" at Stone and River, network officials emphasized.
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After the move, the Heart & Vascular Institute will operate as its own facility within the St. Mary's campus. It will also look to continue partnerships with independent physicians, Beckmann said.
caseload up
The institute experienced an increased caseload within the last couple of years and is on pace to surpass the number of cases it can usually handle, Carondelet officials said.
They said the move will allow the institute to expand its services, allow greater access for Southern Arizonans and accommodate new technology.
"This will allow us to expand our operations and offer the most modern advanced surgical techniques," said Dr. Derek von Haag, a cardiothoracic surgeon and medical director of Carondelet's cardiothoracic surgery program.
Carondelet will make a "significant capital investment in the newest technologies," the network said in a news release. Beckmann declined to estimate a dollar figure.
Some say the move will leave a health-care void in the Foothills area, when the heart institute's emergency room eventually closes at the Stone Avenue site.
But moving the institute to St. Mary's will make care more accessible to more people across the Tucson region, Beckmann said.
"This puts us geographically where there is easy access to I-10 and I-19," Beckmann said. "It'll provide access to the majority of our patients."
Some patients have been referred to the hospital from as far away as New Mexico, von Haag said.
The move is part of a bigger effort to renovate and modernize the entire St. Mary's Hospital campus, which could include the addition of private hospital rooms and the construction of new operating rooms.
The institute will move into existing space at St. Mary's, which is already undergoing a $2 million renovation to its exterior.
The cost of the move and renovations at St. Mary's to accommodate the institute have not been finalized, Beckmann said. The network also hasn't decided what to do with the heart institute building.
Increased risk not seen
Health-care and fire department officials say the heart institute's move will result in longer transport times for patients who live in parts of the Foothills and on Tucson's north side.
However, the officials do not see an increased risk to people living in those areas.
"Paramedics know their job and how to handle and transport patients during emergencies. It will not be that big a deal in terms of patient care," said Dr. Gordon Ewy, director of the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center.
He did emphasize that people should not drive themselves or have others drive them during a medical emergency. He said people need to call 911 and let paramedics treat a patient, and an ambulance transport the patient to the nearest hospital.
Battalion Chief Pat Quinn of the Tucson Fire Department said paramedics will be out of service longer if they're involved in longer transports once the heart institute closes. However, it won't have an adverse effect on service, Quinn said.
"There's one less facility to choose from," he said.
Taylor Payson, executive director of Southern Arizona Emergency Medical Services Council, agreed with Ewy that Northwest Medical Center and Oro Valley Hospital are "good, strong facilities that will be able to handle the extra emergency load."
"However, it is disappointing that they (the Carondelet Heart Institute) have come to that decision, and must close. It will be a longer transport time for some patients - maybe five to 10 minutes more in travel," Payson said.
carondelet restructuring
Carondelet announced in December that it was cutting nearly 5 percent of its jobs by March as part of a company restructuring, and that it would work to find other positions within the four-hospital network - including the heart institute - for the 225 people whose jobs would be eliminated.
Ewy said Thursday that more hospitals are facing financial struggles because insurance companies have decreased their portion of pay to specialists, and to hospitals for high-technology treatment.
"We also are in an economic downturn in this country, and many more people are unemployed and have no insurance. It is tough on hospitals to make ends meet. More and more hospitals have to write off costs," Ewy said.
The 60-bed heart institute opened in 1997 as the Tucson Heart Hospital and changed its name in 2010 after Carondelet purchased 100 percent of the facility.
The facility rated first among nine local hospitals in a 2008 survey by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that analyzed patient satisfaction and quality of care.
Hospital officials also pointed to a recent study by HealthGrades that ranked St. Mary's in the top 5 percent of hospitals nationwide for clinical excellence in 2011 and 2012.
Contact reporter Jamar Younger at jyounger@azstarnet.com or 573-4115.
