Expanding Innovation at Baptist Hospital

New programs to treat aneurysms on an outpatient basis. Advanced research into cardiovascular disease. Sophisticated equipment that will help doctors perform the most complex brain and spinal procedures. It’s all part of the innovation celebrated today at a groundbreaking ceremony for Baptist Cardiac & Vascular Institute and Baptist Hospital’s Surgery Center $90 million expansion project.

The project continues the revolutionary plans that Barry T. Katzen, M.D., medical director and founder of the Institute, brought with him when he arrived at Baptist Hospital 25 years ago. “Our vision is bold and grandiose,” Dr. Katzen told the crowd gathered to witness the groundbreaking. “We are building so that we can care for health problems we don’t even know exist yet. We are building to change the future of medicine.”

Baptist Cardiac & Vascular Institute opened in 1987 as one of the first cardiovascular centers in the nation to use a multidisciplinary team to treat disorders of the entire vascular system — from the heart to clogged arteries in the legs. Institute physicians have pioneered less invasive techniques to treat aneurysm, stroke and heart disease and have been recognized internationally for their success. In March 2012, a team led by Dr. Katzen performed the Institute’s 1,000th repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm.  An aneurysm is the swelling of a blood vessel, often with no symptoms.  If an aneurysm ruptures, it can cause death quickly.

“We are creating a National Center for Aneurysm Therapy, something that no one in the world has,” Dr. Katzen said. “If you have an aneurysm in the brain, the kidney, the aorta or wherever it might be, physicians of all different disciplines will work together to provide the most advanced care.” Also planned is a Center for Advanced Endovascular Therapies, a Center of Structural Heart Therapy, an Advanced Arrhythmia Therapy Center, and physicians will continue their research to discover breakthroughs in the fight against cardiovascular disease.

“This expansion is not only an investment in our community,” said Baptist Hospital CEO Bo Boulenger, “but it allows us to expand on the world stage and to tackle the most difficult cases that other hospitals and doctors turn away.”

The project also includes six additional operating rooms for neuroscience, cardiac and robotic surgery at Baptist Hospital’s Surgery Center. An intraoperative MRI – a technology not currently available south of Orlando – will move between two dedicated operating rooms for specialists at the Baptist Health Neuroscience Center to use in intricate surgeries involving the brain and spine.

The new facility is scheduled to open in 2016.