Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Georgia, accounting for one-third of all deaths in the state. And because South Georgia counties rank among those in Georgia with the highest heart disease-related mortality, it’s clear that local access to advanced diagnostic cardiovascular services is critical for the patients in our region.
Archbold Memorial Hospital recently increased the scope of cardiovascular services available at the Archbold-Bainbridge Specialty Clinic and Archbold’s Grady General Hospital.
“For years, our physicians have traveled regularly to Archbold locations in rural areas throughout the region to provide patients convenient access to specialized care,” said Joe Barron, assistant vice president of heart and vascular and imaging at Archbold. “In addition to seeing their cardiologist or interventional cardiologist for a routine office visit in one of our specialty clinics, we also offer some advanced diagnostic testing for patients in our Bainbridge and Cairo facilities. And we recently decided to expand the office hours and scope of services to further help meet the need of patients in those locations.”
Appointments for echocardiograms and vascular services were recently expanded at the Archbold-Bainbridge Specialty Clinic and are now available every Friday and on select Wednesdays. The Bainbridge clinic also added lower extremity arterial (LEA) studies to their scope of cardiovascular diagnostic services available in Bainbridge. Cardiac nuclear stress testing is available in Bainbridge as well on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Grady General Hospital increased the appointment availability for echocardiograms and vascular studies, including LEAs, to five days a week. The hospital also offers stress testing five days a week.
Appointments for these tests are available with physician referral.
“The ability to provide cardiology care to our neighboring communities is extremely important,” said cardiologist Robert Miles, MD. “By expanding the availability of cardiovascular services, and making additional cardiology services available to patients in neighboring communities, it’s evident that Archbold remains committed to ensuring patients throughout our region have access to high-quality, patient-focused healthcare services."