The excellent continuum of care that is the foundation of SoutheastHEALTH has grown stronger with the addition of Cardiovascular Consultants, the largest cardiology group in southeast Missouri.
Southeast President and CEO Wayne Smith said that “these are times of great change in the healthcare industry. The current level of healthcare costs is unsustainable, so it’s vital that we reduce costs while maintaining an unrelenting commitment to quality of care and patient satisfaction. Meeting those goals requires new relationships. We are extremely pleased to have Cardiovascular Consultants join the SoutheastHEALTH team. With the addition of these specialists, and with our excellent medical staff and nurses, we will continue to grow SoutheastHEALTH’s exceptional healthcare services and build upon our reputation as a regional system of care.”
Cardiovascular Consultants
The six highly respected, board certified specialists at Cardiovascular Consultants – Bryan Beck, MD, Billy A.F. Hammond, MD, David Law, MD, Kenneth Retter, MD, Gabriel Soto, MD and Allen Spitler, MD – have more than 75 years of combined knowledge in matters of the heart.
The physicians’ decision to join the SoutheastHEALTH team was based on quality of care, a team attitude and coordination of care. “The quality of care, the nurses’ expertise and dedication means excellent care for our patients,” Dr. Spitler said. “I think the entire region benefits from what I consider good, solid nursing care provided at Southeast.”
Dr. Soto added that the elimination of barriers for patients is important. “Navigating healthcare can sometimes be a complex maze to patients. The goal of this partnership is to eliminate the barriers and the challenges that patients sometimes experience. Our goal is to streamline healthcare delivery to patients, offering the best quality care in the timeliest manner.”
“There is a team approach for patients who receive care at Southeast,” Dr. Hammond observed. “The collaboration between doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers leads to a prompt diagnosis, evaluation, treatment plan and provides good outcomes for patients.”
Dr. Retter said he is confident that patients will receive excellent care because of the caliber of Southeast’s nurses. “The nursing staff at Southeast is very good, particularly the cardiac unit. I’m always reassured that my patients will get good care.”
Treating patients who have suffered a heart attack in a timely manner is critical, said Dr. Beck. “For a patient who comes to the ER with a heart attack, the national goal is to get him or her to the Cath Lab and have the artery opened within 90 minutes. At Southeast, we’re actually doing even better than that, sometimes even less than an hour. We’re proud of those numbers and we think the coordination of care is very good – all the way from the moment the patient comes to Emergency Services until the time he or she leaves the Hospital.”
Dr. Law sees the new partnership as being advantageous to patients throughout the region. “We have cardiac clinics at Doniphan, Dexter, Sikeston and Perryville where we can see patients. Southeast also offers cardiac rehab in two southeast Missouri locations so patients once again don’t have to drive all the way to Cape to get their care. SoutheastHEALTH’s partnership with Ripley County (Southeast Health Center of Ripley County) gives patients quicker, better access to higher levels of care they wouldn’t have been able to get otherwise. So our teaming up with Southeast is really advantageous to the people of southeast Missouri.”
Southeast and Cardiovascular Consultants now also bring more convenience to patients with two imaging locations (Southeast Hospital and Southeast Cardiac Imaging at Cardiovascular Consultants, 371 South Broadview).
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