AUBURN, WA—Auburn Regional Medical Center received approval from the Washington State Department of Health to provide elective angioplasty to clear clogged coronary arteries. Until now, the hospital could perform the angioplasty procedure only in emergencies.

“Auburn Regional Medical Center has been successfully performing emergency angioplasties since 1983,” said Steve Patonai, president and CEO of Auburn Regional Medical Center. “Adding elective angioplasty allows us to offer our patients what they need without the inconvenience of moving them to another facility.”

Angioplasty is a proven procedure that can clear coronary arteries that are blocked by plaque to lower the patient's risk of heart attack or death. During the procedure, physicians inject dye into the patient's arteries to help make blockages easier to see. If a blockage is located, the doctor may perform a balloon angioplasty using a special catheter. A wire-mesh stent also may be placed to prevent the artery from closing again. The angioplasty procedure, which is much less invasive than open-heart surgery, usually takes from one to three hours and is often performed in the hospital’s cardiac catheterization laboratory.

Until recently, state regulations limited the number of hospitals that could perform elective angioplasty procedure, formally called a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). As a result, residents in Auburn had to travel to Tacoma if they needed the procedure.

“Not every coronary artery blockage can be treated with angioplasty,” says Robert Middleton, MD, a board-certified interventional cardiologist. “Some cases are more severe and require heart surgery. Angioplasty can treat persistent chest pain that medicines do not control, blockage of one or more coronary arteries that puts the patient at risk for a heart attack, and blockage in a coronary artery during or after a heart attack.

During an angioplasty procedure, a patient's chest does not need to be opened, so the patient usually has a shorter and less-painful recovery time than with bypass surgery.  The average hospital stay for an angioplasty patient is about two days, and some people may not even have to stay in the hospital overnight.

Auburn Regional Medical Center is a 162-bed progressive acute care hospital and medical campus that has been serving the South King and North Pierce counties since 1921.

AUBURN, WA—Older Auburn residents with emergent mental health issues can get the help they need at the newly expanded Regional Behavioral Health Center at Auburn, “Caring for the Mature Mind.”

The psychiatric services center, formerly named The Geropsychiatric Center at Auburn Regional Medical Center, includes two units totaling 38 beds. Each unit is designed to address the specific needs of older patients.

The Memory Wellness Unit concentrates on providing care for patients who are challenged by memory loss, depression and  dementia, as well as patients who are severely ill with other mental illnesses.

The Emotional Wellness Unit focuses on creating a healing environment for those recovering from mental illness, and helping them build resiliency to prevent relapse. Patients in the The Emotional Wellness Unit generally have higher cognitive ability, more awareness of the environment and can actively participate in required therapies.

The service is open for patients 50 years and older with memory loss, depression, severe sadness, anxiety, or other mental illness symptoms that are emergent or that have not responded to outpatient therapies.

The Regional Behavioral Health Center is a voluntary admission psychiatric facility. Patients must be willing to sign themselves into the program without coercion, or guardian or someone with a Healthcare Power of Attorney sign on their behalf.

The referral process is the same for both units. A clinical specialist at the center will work with the treatment team to determine best unit for each patient. 

For more information, contact Elizabeth Warner, program Director at the Regional Behavioral Health Center at Auburn by calling 253-804-2813, and pressing option 1.