HJAR Sep/Oct 2021

62 SEP / OCT 2021  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS Hospital Rounds and chief nursing executive, The Joint Commis- sion. “We commend CHI St. Vincent for using certification to reduce variation in its clinical pro- cesses and to strengthen its program structure and management framework for orthopedic patients.” U.S. News &World Report Names Washington Regional Best Hospital in Arkansas Washington Regional Medical Center has been recognized as the No. 1 hospital in Arkansas in the newly released U.S. News & World Report 2021- 22 Best Hospitals list. The ratings evaluate how well hospitals perform across 17 common proce- dures and conditions and recognize excellence in providing a variety of types of medical care for adult patients. Washington Regional Medical Center was also ranked the Best Hospital in the Ozarks Region for a third consecutive year. For its 2021-22 ratings, U.S. News & World Report evaluated approxi- mately 4,500 medical centers nationwide. Rat- ings were based on multiple factors including patient outcomes, patient volume, hospital staff- ing, patient satisfaction and more. Washington Regional earned the highest rat- ing among more than 100 hospitals in the state of Arkansas. To earn the Best Hospital designation, Washington Regional outperformed all other hos- pitals in the state, earning “high performing” des- ignation in seven procedures and conditions eval- uated by the publication. A designation of high performing indicates a hospital performed bet- ter than the national average in a given proce- dure or condition. “Washington Regional is proud to receive this national recognition, which reflects the dedication our medical, nursing and support teammembers have for their patients,” said Larry Shackelford, president and chief executive officer of Washing- ton Regional Medical System. UAMS Cardiology TeamClears 95 % -Blocked Artery with New Shockwave Technology A new technology that uses sonic waves to blast calcium deposits out of arteries is now available at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). The treatment option for advanced heart dis- ease debuted in central Arkansas June 16, when UAMS cardiologist Subhi Al’Aref, MD, used it to successfully open and clear a patient’s severely calcified stent. Stents are tiny tubes that can be inserted into narrowed arteries that have been pried open with balloons to keep them open and restore blood flow; but as heart disease progresses, bone-like calcium deposits can form, causing rigidity in the artery and increasing the risk of complications — such as perforation of the arterial wall —while try- ing to insert or open a stent. A new treatment called intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) allows doctors to shatter the calcium using sonic pressure waves, or shockwave technology, delivered through a catheter mounted on a bal- loon. The waves pass through soft arterial tissue and create a series of microfractures in the cal- cium, allowing the artery to be expanded at low pressure and a stent to be safely implanted to improve blood flow, with minimal trauma to nor- mal arterial tissue. The technology is a novel application of litho- tripsy, which has been used for decades to safely break up kidney stones. Before it was available, doctors had to use small drills to crack the hardened calcium and open the artery, but that procedure, known as atherectomy, has a steep learning curve, is difficult to perform and can result in serious complications for the patient. In addition to being safer, shockwave ther- apy also provides much quicker results. Al’Aref, an assistant professor in the UAMS Col- lege of Medicine Department of Internal Medi- cine, used the new technology to treat a 70-year- old woman who came to UAMS after repeatedly visiting another hospital’s emergency room with complaints of chest pain that were related to the severe calcification of an old stent that was 95% blocked. The woman had been told there were no treatment options available, but the cardiol- ogy team at UAMS decided to try to open the old stent using the newly approved shockwave technology. “We ballooned the stent successfully the first time, and the second time we used the shock- wave technology to expand the stent even more, in order to treat the calcium that was out- side the stent and prevented it from being ade- quately expanded,” Al’Aref said. “We also stented another artery.” The woman has a follow-up visit scheduled but hasn’t returned to the emergency room. The technology was granted a breakthrough device designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration prior to its approval in February. The coronary application of the technology has been widely adopted in Europe, and since 2018, more than 25,000 patients have undergone a pro- cedure using it, according to Shockwave Medical, a public medical device company headquartered in California whose founders adapted kidney stone lithotripsy for the cardiovascular application. “With this technology, we should be able to treat heavily calcified vessels more easily and hopefully with fewer complications,” said Gaurav Dhar, MD, a cardiologist and professor in the Department of Internal Medicine. CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs Establishes Minimally Invasive, Robotic-Assisted Surgery Program CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs has established a new robotic-assisted surgery program with the addition of the da Vinci Xi Surgical System, making it the only hospital across Southwest Arkansas to provide minimally invasive, robotic-assisted pro- cedures. The da Vinci Xi Surgical System is part of a multidisciplinary program offering general sur- gery, gynecology and urology services with signifi- cant patient benefits that include less pain, shorter hospital stays and faster recovery times. “Our patients here in Hot Springs and across Southwest Arkansas deserve the highest quality care available and this addition of the country’s most advanced surgical robot is one more step forward in our commitment to providing them with the best, most compassionate care possi- ble,” said CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs President Douglas Ross, MD. The first surgery in Hot Springs utilizing the da Vinci Xi Surgical System will be conducted by CHI St. Vincent general surgeon Vincio Medina,