Banner Good Sam launches VAD; technology used on former VP to save his failing heart
PHOENIX (July 14, 2010) – It was the only option former Vice President Dick Cheney had when it came to repairing his failing heart and that is why Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center wants Arizonans to know that it is now offering the Ventricular Assist Device, known as the VAD, to those with heart failure who have run out of options.
The VAD works by taking over pumping for the heart. This is different from an artificial heart – where a patient’s heart is removed and replaced. Instead, this device assists the heart by pumping for it. A small pump is implanted in the chest, connected through the abdomen to a control unit and batteries. The small size and rechargeable batteries allow the patient to resume many normal activities.
Nonprofit Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center’s Cavanagh Heart Center has been recognized for the past several years as one of “America’s Best” by U.S.News & World Report for its clinical quality and advances in heart care.
Please contact the Public Relations Department to get a first-hand demonstration of the device and to speak with the surgeon performing these life saving procedures.
About Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center
Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center has been providing medical care to Arizona and the Southwest since 1911. Banner Good Samaritan is owned and operated by Phoenix-based Banner Health, a nonprofit. The hospital was named to the 2010-’11 U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” list for Diabetes and Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Geriatrics, Gynecology, Heart & Heart Surgery and Kidney Disorders. Banner Good Samaritan has been recognized as a Magnet™ facility by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the highest honor a hospital can earn for its nursing care and practices, and has been named one of the Best Places to Work in the Valley by The Phoenix Business Journal and BestCompaniesAZ in 2007 and 2008 and one of the “Top 100 Hospitals to Work For” by Nursing Professionals magazine.
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CONTACT:
Banner Good Samaritan Public Relations
Rainey Holloway, Rebecca Armendariz
Phone: (602) 839-4411
Pager: (602) 250-0383
Twitter: @bannergoodsam
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