“This new building is really an extension and a legacy of what we are creating for the Cardiovascular Institute in our Naperville location,” said Yvette Saba, Cardiovascular Institute Executive with Endeavor Health.
The Endeavor Health Cardiovascular Center is the newest building on the Edward Hospital campus. The $67 million 3-story facility was put in place to expand patient care.
“We know that as the population continues to grow, the incidence of cardiovascular disease continues to increase, and more and more procedures are happening in the outpatient setting. And so we thought it would be ideal to create an outpatient setting that’s easy and convenient for our patients to access,” said Saba.
Doing so frees up hospital space for emergency patients with acute cardiovascular issues.
Three floors of cardiac care
The 71,000 square-foot-building currently houses three health services on its first two floors: the Midwest Cardiovascular Institute, Cardiac Surgery Associates, and Endeavor Health Cardiac Rehab, where patients come three times a week to be monitored while exercising.
“So we can see, should they have any arrhythmias, anything abnormal for them? Or should they feel any symptoms while they’re exercising? They’re in a safe environment,” said Emily Santona, an exercise physiologist with Endeavor Health.
They’re also learning along the way.
“We are providing them with a different topic of education throughout their 12 weeks of being here. Some related to exercise, some nutrition, signs and symptoms, anatomy, physiology, all different topics,” Santona said.
It’s a definite upgrade from the previous space in the Edward Heart Hospital, with more room to interact with staff and each other.
“I mean, in the past, it was a little bit constrained with space. Now you can actually see that they’re moving freely and you can easily talk to them and all those things,” said Ramses Banda, a former patient at the Heart Hospital.
The future of cardiovascular care at Edward Hospital includes more outpatient procedures
The currently vacant third floor will house a surgery center, set to open this spring.
“So in that ambulatory surgery space for cardiac procedures, it will include pacemakers. If you need an intervention where you open up some of the arteries in the heart, that can be done in this outpatient setting,” said Saba.
Separating those types of procedures into this new space isn’t just practical, Saba says, but also helpful for patients.
“It’s really a nice environment for patients to come to where they don’t have to enter the hospital, where there’s a lot of hustle and bustle happening and they can get a really great experience on the outpatient side in a beautiful environment.”
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