Heart disease claims more lives than any other illness. It accounts for approximately 30 percent of Missouri’s deaths annually.

To meet our community’s growing need for advanced heart care, St. John’s is planning a state-of-the-art heart hospital located on the St. John’s Hospital campus in Springfield.

Devoted exclusively to heart and vascular care, St. John’s heart hospital will be a four-level, 214,000 square-foot facility, conveniently located adjacent to St. John’s Emergency Trauma Center / Imaging and Diagnostic Center.

Plans include:

• Eight catheterization laboratories
• Two electrophysiology laboratories
• Four operating rooms
• On-site physician offices
• Integrated emergency department facilities
• Chest pain evaluation unit
• Comprehensive inpatient and outpatient cardiovascular diagnostic services
• Customized, evidence-based care pathways
• Educational resources, wellness programs and nutritional services
• Inpatient education and cardiac rehabilitation.

The facility will connect to the main hospital where corresponding floors will lead to a cardiac intensive care unit, step-down unit and 92 patient rooms (six semiprivate and 80 private rooms).

“Bringing on a new facility allows us to accommodate new technology and increases efficiencies in care by having things consolidated,” says Chuck Wollard, St. John’s vice president of Cardiovascular Services.

Over the years, St. John’s physicians have helped shape the modern era
of heart care in the Ozarks, providing innovative treatment and aggressive attention to all factors affecting heart health.

Today, advanced options for heart and vascular care range from management of heart disease to complex surgery.

St. John’s first major contribution was the development of the region’s first coronary catheterization lab. Coronary angiography made it possible to visualize coronary artery blockages and opened the door for
interventional cardiology such as balloon angioplasty and stents.

Cardiologist Phil Carr, M.D., led the vision for interventional cardiology, opening the area’s first cardiac catheterization lab.

Today St. John’s has one of the busiest catheterization labs in Missouri,
with each physician performing an average of 220 interventional
cases per year.

“St. John's has earned the reputation of an outstanding cardiac hospital through its ability to successfully manage and treat all kinds of cardiac patients, from simple cardiac evaluations to high-risk coronary interventional procedures and complex cardiovascular, surgical cases,” says Kelvin Van Osdol, M.D., St. John’s chair of cardiology services. “We have a level of success in patient outcomes, patient volume and a level of cardiac experience from outstanding physicians that is unsurpassed in this region, this state and most of the nation.”

Another milestone in heart care was the area’s first successful coronary artery bypass operation performed at St. John’s in April 1972. St. John's
cardiovascular surgeons included the region's pioneers in cardiovascular surgical care: Fritz Johnson, M.D.; Ramon Shane, M.D.; Jim Pinckley, M.D.; John Stamatis, M.D.; and Paul Ruff, M.D.

Leading the busiest open-heart surgery program in the state today are St. John’s cardiovascular and thoracic surgeons: Paul Ruff, M.D.; Clyde Redmond, M.D.; Frank Schmidt Jr., M.D.; and Fon Huang, M.D.

Together, they offer the latest advances in cardiac surgery, such as heart laser surgery for chest pain relief, treatment for abdominal aortic aneurysms and off-pump surgery. Huang is considered one of the nation's authorities on off-pump surgery and has traveled across the country and internationally to train other physicians.

It is no secret that high-volume heart programs have the lowest death rates, hospital stays, total hospital and medical costs. Medicare has shut down low-volume cardiac programs across the nation due to unacceptably high death and complication rates. Experts say physicians need to perform a
sufficient number of procedures to maintain skills and stay abreast of this challenging and constantly advancing field of medicine.

“Providing breakthrough cardiac care requires the coordinated effort of
hundreds of physicians and staff working in a well-directed fashion to accomplish the desired outcomes in pre-hospital, in-hospital and
post-hospital settings,” says Wollard. “We have physicians with the expert training and newest innovative technologies available delivering care
24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. You don't have to
look to other cities for outstanding heart care. You don't have to look any further than your own backyard.”