As part of our commitment to excellence, St. Mary's is raising the bar for cardiac care in Athens and Northeast Georgia. We are proud of the many innovations we have implemented to bring better care to our community:

• In April 2008, St. Mary’s teamed up with cardiologists John Layher, M.D., and L. Steven Lowman, M.D., to create Oconee Heart and Vascular Center, Northeast Georgia’s newest medical practice for heart and blood vessel care. In June, they were joined by Charles Neckman, M.D., and Harvey Ouzts, M.D.
  

  For information about Oconee Heart and Vascular Center, click here.

• In 2007, St. Mary's was certified by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations as one of the first 25 Heart Failure Centers in the United States.
  

  For information about heart failure, click here.

• Also in 2007, St. Mary's launched Athens Cardiac Arrhythmia Center to provide state-of-the-art electrophysiology care, pacemaker and defibrillator implantation and management and more. Today, Amit Shah, M.D., PhD., provides these advanced cardiac services through the ACAC offices in St. Mary's Hospital.
  

  For information on ACAC and Electrophysiology Services, click here.

• In 2006, St. Mary's introduced 64-slice CT technology to the Athens area. This ultra-high speed, non-invasive imaging system is so fast it synchronizes with the patient's heartbeat, allowing physicians to get images so detailed they can see plaque on the inside of coronary arteries!
  

  For information about 64-slice CT, click here.

• Since 2005, all of St. Mary's ambulances have been equipped with Remote EKG Transmission capabilities. Remote EKG speeds information about heart function to our emergency room physicians and to an on-call cardiologist.
  

  For information on St. Mary’s EMS, click here.

St. Mary’s also offers

• Emergency care for heart attack, heart failure and other cardiovascular conditions, including the latest in clot-busting drug therapies
• Diagnostic cardiac catheterization
• Implantable cardiac resynchronization devices
• Echocardiography and stress testing
• Tilt table studies
• Intensive care and intermediate care units
• EKG studies and other diagnostics
• Cardiac Rehab Phase III