Hoag tops charts in heart bypass surgeries

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT BEACH -- Hoag Hospital is one of three hospitals in California

to have a significantly low death rate in heart bypass surgeries,

according to a statewide report released last week.

The California Report on Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery, which

covers 12 to 24 months during 1997 and 1998, is based on information

voluntarily provided by 79 of 118 hospitals that were approached for the

study, which was conducted for the first time ever in the state.

The report, released by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and

Development, concluded that most of the participating hospitals performed

“as expected.” However, three hospitals -- Hoag, Summit Medical Center in

San Franciscoand Sutter Memorial in Sacramento -- performed

“significantly better than expected.”

On the other hand, the study found that four hospitals -- Downey

Community Hospital in Long Beach, John Muir Medical Center in San

Francisco, Mercy San Juan in Sacramento and Presbyterian Intercommunity

Hospital in Los Angeles -- “performed worse than expected.”

Hoag’s success can be attributed to its surgeons’ and staff’s “hard

work [and] meticulous attention to detail,” said Aidan Raney, the

hospital’s director of cardiac surgery.

“It has a lot of components to it,” he said. “It takes well-trained,

skilled surgeons, nurses, administrative support and the expertise of our

consultants who we approach when problems develop.”

Raney added that the hospital has refined the technology used in these

complex and often long surgeries over the years. Only three surgeons,

including Raney, perform the bypass surgeries at Hoag.

The program at the hospital has grown tremendously since he started

there in 1987, Raney said.

“At that time, we were performing only 95 [surgeries] a year,” he

said. “Last year, we performed close to 500 surgeries. It’s really high

volume.”

The challenges also increase day by day, he said.

“We’re getting sicker patients, patients with more complications, such

as diabetes or high cholesterol or [kidney disease],” he said.

Raney said the report will help consumers make an informed decision.

“It’s a significant study,” he said. “It’s information that is

important for the public to know.”