Caring for your heart

At the North Shore Medical Center's Heart Center (NMSC), cardiologists and surgeons, together with doctors from Massachusetts General Hospital, provide advanced cardiac care that's closer to your home and family. NMSC is the only comprehensive heart center on Boston's North Shore that offers fully integrated cardiac diagnostic, treatment, and lifestyle-management services, including angioplasty and advanced cardiac surgery in comfortable, convenient settings.

Care where you need it
The NSMC Heart Center's catheterization laboratory in Salem is the only place on the North Shore where residents experiencing a heart attack can receive life-saving angioplasty.

Led by Massachusetts General Hospital cardiologists Dr. David J. Roberts, medical director of NSMC cardiology, and Dr. Howard M. Waldman, medical director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory, the program also offers patients a full range of interventional and diagnostic therapies that reduce the need for major surgery. Examples of interventional treatments include angioplasty and stenting, atherectomy, and clot extraction.

The NSMC Heart Center provides the latest technology and highest standard of surgical care. Massachusetts General Hospital cardiac surgeons head the program, which features a $10 million state-of-the-art surgical unit. The center's expert team treats all cardiac conditions. The center's "Heart+" model of patient care has led to exceptional patient and family satisfaction levels.

Advanced technology
Implantable defibrillators are exciting tools for treating rhythm disturbances of the heart. The devices are small and placed under the skin to resuscitate the heart automatically in the event of life-threatening irregularities or cardiac arrest; they also dramatically increase the likelihood of survival.

The therapy is available at the NSMC Heart Center, which offers the only comprehensive electrophysiology program on the North Shore. Dr. Michael Katcher directs the program, which evaluates symptoms such as palpitations, dizzy spells, and blackouts and treats a wide range of arrhythmias.

Katcher also treats patients at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he collaborates with Dr. Jeremy Ruskin, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital cardiac arrhythmia service, to give patients easy access to the most advanced therapies for heart rhythm disturbances.

NSMC is among the first in Massachusetts to offer cardiac surgery patients the "Heart+" model of care. With this approach, all postoperative care and rehabilitation is provided by the same care team, in the same patient room-no moving from one unit to another or adjusting to new faces.

Faculty-centered care
Specialized nurses use this model to follow patients from admission through discharge and enhance comfort and healing. The NSMC Heart Center staff embraces the philosophy of family-centered care by including family members in daily rounds and considering their input when developing a patient's treatment plan.

From diagnosis to rehabilitation, the NSMC Heart Center's comprehensive services are designed to support patients every step of the way. Experienced cardiologists and cardiovascular lifestyle-management and wellness programs help patients reduce cardiac risks and improve quality of life.