As part of our commitment to excellence, St. Mary's continues to raise 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 July 2009, St. Mary’s received permission from the Georgia Department of Community Health, Division of Health Planning, to establish a therapeutic cardiac catheterization program for the treatment of people suffering from emergency and long-term heart problems. St. Mary’s interventional cardiology program, including angioplasty and stenting, is scheduled to begin in October 2009. Services will be offered in St. Mary’s state-of-the-art Cardiac Catheterization/Electrophysiology Laboratory.
  
  
• 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. Since then, they have been joined by interventional cardiologist Charles Neckman, M.D., cardiologist Harvey Ouzts, M.D., cardiologist/electrophysiologist Amit Shah, M.D., PhD., cardiologist James Kim, M.D. and interventional cardiologist Rohit Tongia, M.D.
  

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

• Also in 2008, St. Mary’s added Cardiac Rehab Phase II to its long-standing Phase III Cardiac Rehab program. Phase II classes, held in a dedicated cardiac rehab facility at St. Mary’s Hospital, help patients recover from a heart attack, heart surgery, or other cardiac diagnosis and take steps to prevent a future cardiac event.
  
  
• 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’ first comprehensive electrophysiology program to provide state-of-the-art care for persons with cardiac arrhythmias, as well as pacemaker and defibrillator implantation and management. Today, Amit Shah, M.D., PhD., provides these advanced cardiac services through Oconee Heart and Vascular Center.
  

  For information on St. Mary's 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 obtain images so detailed they can see plaque on the inside of coronary arteries.
  

  For information about 64-slice CT, 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, and, beginning in fall 2009, therapeutic cardiac catheterization, including angioplasty and stenting
  
• Implantable cardiac resynchronization devices
• Echocardiography and stress testing
• Nuclear medicine at St. Mary’s Hospital and St. Mary’s Outpatient Cardiac Diagnostic Suite, located at 2470 Daniells Bridge Road, Building 200, near Oconee Heart and Vascular Center
• Tilt table studies
• Intensive care and intermediate care units
• EKG studies and other diagnostics
• Phase III Cardiac Rehab at St. Mary’s Wellness Center