The renovation of the catheterization laboratory at Butler Memorial Hospital is nothing but good news for people whose closest health care facility is the hospital.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one person dies every 33 seconds from cardiovascular disease. The CDC also reported that about half of all Americans have at least one of three key risk factors for heart disease: high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and smoking.

The fact that a hospital in Butler County has access to recent technology that delivers electrical pulses to heart tissue to treat certain conditions means that, hopefully, people in range of the hospital will have better outcomes of heart treatment in the future. In Butler County, 19.8% of residents are over age 65, according to a 2020 report by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania. Age also can impact an individual’s chance for heart issues, according to the CDC.

The hospital’s cath lab performed its first procedures with the Pulsed Field Ablation, which delivers the electrical pulses to heart tissue, within the past few months. Other procedures recently implemented at the cath lab for the first time include the Impella device — an artificial heart pump for those who have suffered heart failure — and the Inari procedure, which uses a catheter to mechanically treat the more common pulmonary embolisms.

Butler Memorial Hospital’s recent heart center improvements is a worthwhile investment, because of the risk many people in the region face when it comes to heart and cardiovascular issues. Patients previously may have had to travel to a UPMC hospital for treatment in this field, increasing their risk of complications after a cardiovascular episode.

Health care close to home is important no matter how old you are, or what type of health risks you may face. So seeing Independence Health System add new treatment capabilities to its Butler location is good for everyone in the surrounding area — not just those who face cardiovascular risks.

— ET