Impact Stories

Cardiac cath lab renovations bring nationally renowned heart care program to even more patients

The nationally renowned cardiovascular care at the Ascension Borgess Heart Institute is now even more state-of-the-art, thanks to recently completed renovations of one of its cardiac catheterization labs.

The $1.8 million renovation, supported by community philanthropy and the Borgess Foundation, supports an urgent need to provide even greater support to cardiac patients in need of immediate care. Ascension Borgess Hospital held a special ribbon cutting ceremony for the new lab on January 22.

“The renovated lab is one of six at the Heart Institute,” says Vishal Gupta, MD, MPH, Chief of Medicine at Ascension Borgess Hospital. He’s also co-chair of the Ascension Borgess Heart Institute and Medical Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Lab. “The lab now features the latest and most advanced equipment, which brings it up to par with the capabilities of our other cutting-edge labs.”

The new equipment will help meet the increased technical demands of advanced cardiac procedures while emitting less radiation, thus enhancing the safety of both patients and staff.

“Technology has advanced quite a bit since that individual lab was last renovated,” Dr. Gupta says. “The quality of the images we can obtain is significantly higher along with a corresponding reduction in emitted radiation. Simply put, greater technology means even greater quality of care and even better patient outcomes.”

With the renovated lab, the Heart Institute can now accommodate more patients, says Robin Lovely, Director of Practice Operations for the Ascension Medical Group.

“We’re already experiencing high patient demand,” Lovely says. “Due to the aging patient population in our area, we expect to see an increase in volume by about 17 percent over the next three to five years. The recent lab renovation now enables us to handle an additional six or seven patients per day.

“We’re extremely grateful to the community for their tremendous support of our program. They’ve been instrumental in helping to enhance the services we provide to southwest Michigan.”

The Ascension Borgess Heart Institute and its team of highly trained cardiovascular specialists has received numerous prestigious accolades. Healthgrades named Ascension Borgess Hospital as one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care Award™ in 2024, 2023 and 2022. This honor reflects the Institute’s superior clinical outcomes in heart bypass surgery, coronary interventional procedures, heart attack treatment, and heart valve surgery.

“We are also a top-50 academic cardiovascular program nationally as well as a top-100 thoracic program,” Dr. Gupta says.

“Our program is one of the medical crown jewels of southwest Michigan. We’ve reached this level thanks to the support of our devoted community members. We’re very grateful for them.”