The heart of the matter

COEUR d’ALENE — A $40 million expansion project that includes the Kootenai Health Heart Center, operating rooms and Kootenai Outpatient Surgery is moving ahead at Kootenai Health.

It will add 37,000 square feet to the heart center, nine new patient rooms, a new cardiac catheterization lab and a new electrophysiology lab for heart rhythm disorders.

Dr. Eric Wallace, interventional cardiology medical director, said it’s time for the cardiovascular division to enhance its facilities, which are about 15 years old.

The expansion will allow them to see more patients and provide more same-day procedures.

“I think that will improve our opportunity to care for you and your family members,” Wallace said during a recent Kootenai Health Foundation program.

Construction began in September 2021. It will be completed in phases. The heart center is scheduled to be completed in fall 2023.

The expansion is being funded through capital reserves, debt and donations to the Kootenai Health Foundation, according to a statement from the hospital.

The heart center expansion will occur on the second floor of Kootenai Health’s main facility.

New diagnostic imaging equipment will provide high-definition, real-time views of patients’ hearts and vascular systems.

“Together, this expanded space and enhanced technology in the hands of our capable and committed physicians and staff members will enable Kootenai Health to expand community access to care with enhanced safety features,” reads a project update from the Kootenai Health Foundation.

The need for heart center expansion is great and growing. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. About one in four deaths is due to a form of this disease, according to Kootenai Health.

Wallace credited an efficient and dedicated heart center staff with rising to the challenge and keeping up with demand for services, especially through the past five years.

“I find it hard-pressed to have a community of this size that, in my mind, can deliver the care that we do. We take pride in it,” said Wallace, who has been with Kootenai Health seven years. "We're not just here for a job. We're here to be a part of this community and take care of it."

The expansion will allow the heart center to not only improve service and provide more space and equipment, but also recruit more physicians.

Currently, Kootenai Health has three cardiothoracic surgeons, six interventional cardiologists, six general cardiologists and two electrophysiologists.

Recruiting efforts are underway for two more electrophysiologists, four cardiologists and one interventional cardiologist by end of 2022.

With completion of the heart center expansion, Kootenai Health will have the capacity to hire five new interventional cardiologists, four electrophysiologists, three vascular surgeons and eight non-interventional cardiologists.

“So we're excited for the project," Wallace said. "We appreciate the community support."

Dr. Robert Burnett, cardiothoracic surgery medical director, said they have performed more than 4,500 open-heart operations since the inception of the cardiac heart program in 2003.

They have performed those operations with a mortality rate of less than 1%, which is about half of what is expected of the national database, he said.

“We can tell patients when they come to us that when you have open heart surgery, that you are twice as likely to survive or half as likely to not survive, than if you go to Spokane or anywhere else in the country," he said.

“That's something that we're very proud of,” Burnett added.

He said they go to great lengths to provide full cardiothoracic surgery care so people don't have to leave, except in rare cases.

“This heart center expansion is very important to the whole service line," Burnett said.

Kootenai Health's expansion also includes outpatient surgery, with nine recovery bays; the main operation room, with two new operating rooms; and improved electronic health records.