Treatment

Heart surgery challenges patients and their families to make a series of difficult and important decisions during a time of stress and concern.

Fortunately, Gagnon Cardiovascular Institute at Morristown Memorial Hospital's first-class heart surgeons, staff, facilities and services make those decisions easier. We are one of only two New Jersey hospitals to receive the American College of Cardiology Foundation and American Heart Association's ACTION Registry®-GWTG™ 2009 Gold Performance Achievement Award for improvement in the treatment of heart attack patients. You can rest assured that the advanced procedures we perform each day using state-of-the-art technology are the best you will find anywhere.

Each year, our cardiac surgeons perform more than 1,200 open-heart surgical procedures, making our cardiovascular surgery program the most frequently used in New Jersey. The Cardiac Surgery Consumer Report, compiled by the New Jersey Department of Health, shows that the Hospital continues to have superior cardiac surgery outcomes. In addition, our coronary care unit is one of only 132 units in the United States to win the Association of Critical-Care Nurses' Beacon Award  for its commitment to high-quality, critical care standards and dedication to the exceptional care of patients and their families.

Morristown Memorial's surgeons expertly perform a full range of open-heart procedures, including coronary artery bypass grafting, valve replacement and valve repair, aortic surgery, and repair of adult congenital heart disease. A multi-disciplinary team including board-certified cardiovascular surgeons, cardiologists, critical care nurses, open-heart surgical nurses, physician assistants, electrophysiologists, cardiovascular technologists, and clinical specialists individually design every surgery.

Whether surgery is minimally invasive, on-pump, or off-pump is determined only after a careful evaluation of what is best for you. Minimally invasive cardiac surgery requires small incisions. Where appropriate, less invasive methods are used to clear blocked arteries or replace valves. On-pump surgery requires that the patient be placed on a heart-lung machine to ensure circulation during surgery. Off-pump surgery, on the other hand, is performed while the heart is beating.

All procedures at Morristown Memorial are performed in operating rooms featuring the very latest technology, including robotic surgery. After cardiac surgery, you’ll be moved to our Open Heart Recovery Unit located adjacent to the operating room. In this specialized unit, you'll have your own nurse who can focus exclusively on your needs and progress, determining when it is appropriate to move you to the Post Open Heart Unit.

Here you'll receive individualized care from a multi-disciplinary team including inpatient cardiac rehabilitation nurses who help you get back on your feet, dieticians who help you develop a sound nutrition plan, respiratory specialists who manage the ventilator system and social workers who make sure you have the home health care you need when you leave the hospital.

Thanks to improved equipment, cardiac surgeons performing off-pump surgery are achieving the same positive results they do when operating on a beating heart.