Left to right: William Hunt, Chairman, Board of Trustees and Francis R. Dietz, President and CEO, both from Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island; David Williams, M.D., Director, Cardiovascular Catheterization Laboratory at Memorial and cardiologist from Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Andrew Artenstein, M.D., Physician-in-Chief of Medicine at Memorial; and Dale Adler, M.D., Executive Chair, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

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Heart disease is one of the nation’s largest health problems. As the leading cause of death for all Americans aged 35 and older, making advancements in the medical technology used to diagnose and treat this condition is critical. In an effort to provide better cardiac care to northern Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts residents, Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island cut the ribbon July 7th on their newly reopened cardiac catheterization lab featuring cutting edge equipment.

Dale Adler, M.D., Executive Chair, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, stated, “This is a great day for Memorial Hospital, the population that the hospital serves. And a great day for the relationship with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Memorial.” Dr. Adler expressed his hope that this affiliation becomes a model to teach others how to develop and deliver efficient care.

Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island’s new clinical affiliation with Brigham and Women’s Cardiovascular Center is enhancing and expanding the care options for patients. The two institutions have a shared mission of outstanding patient care, innovative medical research and dedication to teaching the next generation of physicians. Brigham & Women’s Hospital is renowned for the quality of its physicians who have performed pioneering work in the evaluation and treatment in cardiovascular disease. The affiliation provides Brigham & Women’s Hospital medical direction and leadership for the cardiac catheterization lab and cardiovascular services.

Francis Dietz, President and CEO at Memorial Hospital read from the affiliation agreement to “establish a collaborative relationship between Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island and Brigham and Women’s Hospital to realize a vision to increase the availability and accessibility of adult health care and improve the continuity, quality and safety of that care for the residents of the community and ensuring access to high quality tertiary care.”

Memorial Hospital is able to conduct diagnostic catheterization for a wide range of cardiovascular conditions and procedures for treatment of the blood vessels in the body, such as cartoids, abdominal and lower extremities.

According to Andrew Artenstein, M.D., Physician-in-Chief of Medicine at Memorial Hospital, the Center will initially be staffed with five cardiologists who were jointly recruited and will have privileges at both institutions. In addition, senior vascular cardiologists from Brigham and Women’s will periodically come to Memorial to perform specialized procedures.

David Williams, M.D., Director of the Cardiovascular Catheterization Laboratory at Memorial and cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital told the crowd of over 100 guests that the guiding principles throughout this process were: 1) doing what’s right for the patient  2) redesign the whole way for which patients receive their care by looking at the journey the patient takes during their care process and, finally, working as a team. “This was a terrific process bringing every level of the institution together.”