If patients needed to have work done on their arteries at St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Wayne, they would need to go to the emergency room. But a $2.1 million renovation will give those patients and nurses a room of their own.
It’s called a catheterization lab, where patients can go if their arteries are blocked.
That lab can be used for preventative procedures, like troubled breathing, or on emergency procedures like heart attacks.
Cath lab manager Nicole Buonomo says the renovation will provide patients and nurses with more space in a calmer environment.
“E.R. is a lot of hustle and bustle. There’s people coming in there and they’re sick and they’re in pain and we’re housed there right now, so there’s a lot of running around and busyness down there,” Buonomo said. “I mean it’s, when we open up, there’s going to be a lot more peaceful, quiet atmosphere for them.”
The CEO of St. Joseph’s Hospital, Kenneth Jones, says they hope to have the facility open to patients this week.
“We like having the, saying we have the newest facility and the newest technology, and keeping our cath lab up to date is really something that we are very proud about,” he said.
Jones says the hospital is currently doing about 1,200 catheterizations per year, and he thinks that number will grow.