Maimonides cites low re-admission rates for patients

February 12, 2016 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Dr. Greg Ribakove is chief of cardiothoracic surgery. Photo courtesy of Maimonides Medical Center

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Maimonides Medical Center, a hospital famous for its treatment of heart disease, has the lowest readmission rates of cardiac patients of any health care institution in New York City, according to hospital officials, who cited information from the New York state Department of Health (DOH).

Re-admission occurs when a patient who was previously treated at a hospital and then discharged is readmitted back into the hospital within 30 days of the discharge due to a health setback.

Cardiac surgeons at the Maimonides Heart & Vascular Center who perform advanced surgeries every day have an excellent track record of avoiding patient readmissions, hospital officials said.

The center is located within Maimonides Medical Center at 4802 10th Ave. in Borough Park.

“The low readmission rate means we are getting more and more folks back to health without setbacks. The real winners here are our patients. This is a direct testament to the skills of the surgeons on our team,” said Dr. Greg Ribakove, chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the center.

In 2011, for example, Maimonides treated more than 1,000 cardiac patients and had to readmit only 125 patients, according to a report from the DOH.

“Our surgeons were among the first in the nation to perform minimally invasive valve surgery and beating-heart bypass surgery; approaches that increase your safety and return you to an active life much sooner. Minimizing your risk so you can fully enjoy life is what it’s all about,” Ribakove said.

At Maimonides Medical Center uses cutting-edge techniques including “off-pump” or “beating heart” surgery during which the heart continues to pump blood to the body while the surgeon conducts the bypass operation. These new techniques have been shown to decrease the amount of pain and bleeding after surgery, and assure a faster recovery, hospital officials said.

Maimonides Medical Center, a 711-bed hospital affiliated with Northwell Health, is one of the largest independent teaching hospitals in the U.S. The hospital offers more than 70 subspecialty programs.

For more information on the Maimonides Heart & Vascular Center, visit www.maimonidesmed.org/heart.