DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — The Brooklyn Hospital Center, which serves Downtown Brooklyn, Fort Greene and nearby areas, yesterday unveiled its new Cardiac Catheterization Suite, used by the Division of Cardiology for diagnostics and examination purposes.

While the hospital already had existing cardiac catheterization equipment, according to spokeswoman Terry Hardaway, the new suite provides its doctors with cutting-edge technology and provides patients with quicker recovery time.

According to information on the state Department of Health web site http://hospitals.nyhealth.gov/browse_view.php?id=179, the hospital, between June 2006 and June 2007, performed 3,636 in-patient operations on the cardiovascular system (related to the heart and blood vessels) and 1,738 out-patient cardiovascular procedures.

“This is an exciting announcement for the hospital,� said Richard B. Becker, MD, the hospital’s new president and CEO. “We are committed to providing the best quality care for our patients and, with this new suite, combined with our dedicated and caring staff, we are doing just that.�

In a sense, the opening of the new suite also symbolizes the return of the hospital to financial health. The hospital declared bankruptcy in 2005, but emerged from it in September 2007. As part of the settlement, it downsized its Caledonian campus on the east side of Prospect Park, at one time a separate hospital.

At the time, the hospital announced it would still continue its focus on outpatient medicine and clinical services, but would also stress programs focusing on weight loss, cardiac services and back pain as well as beginning a $40 million capital improvement program.

As for Dr. Becker, he came to Brooklyn Hospital Center, earlier this year, from Washington Medical Center in Washington, D.C., according to Ms. Hardaway.

Cardiac catheterization is defined as the insertion of a catheter into a chamber or vessel of the heart. A small puncture is made in a vessel in the elbow, neck or groin area, and a guide-wire is inserted into the incision and threaded through the vessel into the heart that needs treatment. At times, a material to enhance the quality of x-rays will be given to the patient as part of the procedure. Catheterization can also be used to insert a stent into the arteries.

— Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Daily Eagle