Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian opens remodeled lab

Newport Beach’s Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian this week opened an extensively remodeled Hoag Heart and Vascular Institute, which boasts about 34,650 square feet of some of the area’s most advanced cardiovascular services, a news release said.

The institute includes the region’s first electrophysiology catheterization lab suite, hybrid cardiovascular surgical suite, 27 pre- and post-procedure beds, new lobby, conference room, and monument space for community members who have donated to the institute.

The remodel’s final phase, which includes the construction of an outdoor “healing garden,” more patient and meeting rooms and a center specializing in heart valve care, are also planned for completion by January 2014.

“Our unique catheterization lab, which features soothing, ambient lighting and the inviting, new lobby are designed to make our patients as comfortable as possible,” Hoag President and Chief Executive Richard Afable said in a statement. “Hoag’s Heart and Vascular Institute was planned to serve as a model for the future of cardiovascular care.”

The Allan and Sandy Fainbarg Electrophysiology Cath Lab Suite, which opened earlier this year, will make arrhythmia screening procedures more comfortable for patients and doctors, the release said.

The Bob and Marjie Bennett Hybrid Cardiovascular Surgical Suite, which also opened earlier this year, is more than double the size of a typical operating room and is equipped with 3D and 4D imaging software, according to the release.

The surgical suite is the only center in the county to offer a new treatment option for a kind of aortic valve narrowing called aortic stenosis. The treatment, Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement, is a less invasive technique than other options.

For more information on the institute, go to https://www.hoag.org/Specialty/hvi..

jill.cowan@latimes.com

Twitter: @jillcowan