Saint Francis to partner with Cleveland Clinic for heart care

Saint Francis Medical Center during a news conference Tuesday announced it has joined with the highly touted Cleveland Clinic's Heart and Vascular Institute of Cleveland for cardiovascular services.

Saint Francis' Heart Hospital will have access to "the best practices that have helped Cleveland Clinic's heart program achieve U.S. News and World Report's No. 1 ranking for 19 consecutive years," according to a news release from the hospital.

"The basic meaning of this is that we're able to provide our patients with the care that's available, the expertise that's available at the top cardiac program in the country," said Dr. Edward M. Bender, cardiothoracic surgeon at Saint Francis, after the news conference.

Cleveland Clinic spent about a year evaluating the program at Saint Francis and has evaluated more than 50 programs over the last five years, said Dr. Joseph Cacchione, cardiologist and chairman of operations and strategy at Cleveland Clinic's Heart and Vascular Institute, during the news conference. The clinic has 10 affiliates, he said.

In affiliates, Cleveland Clinic looks for things such as integrity in a hospital's data and reporting, how aligned a hospital's physicians are to making improvements and the hospital's cultural alignment, Cacchione said.

"This is not easy stuff," he said. "It takes a team to get better."

Saint Francis' combined heart and cancer hospital was completed in 2011. It contains a 50-room Progressive Care Unit primarily for cardiac patients and a 10-bed Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.

Saint Francis will have access to Cleveland Clinic's protocols, standards of care and practices, and it will be able to apply them to its patients, Bender said.

The clinic has the advantage of years and thousands of patients to achieve the best practices, he said, and Saint Francis now has "somebody with not just a flashlight -- a floodlight" that can guide the hospital in certain circumstances instead of "feeling" the way by themselves.

"We're basically standing on the shoulders of this giant called the Cleveland Clinic," Bender said.

Steve Bjelich, president and CEO of Saint Francis, said the affiliation is important for the community and region.

"I think it validates the quality of care that's here, but more importantly, it demonstrates our commitment ... to reach even higher levels of quality of care," Bjelich said after the news conference. "That is a huge commitment that has been validated by this affiliation."

Cleveland Clinic will collaborate with Saint Francis staff on complex medical situations and new technology and innovation, and will share research, processes and protocols pertaining to "all cardiac subspecialties," according to the news release.

Bender said the clinic already has been at the hospital, making recommendations and suggestions.

"This is nothing but a continuum of process improvement," he said. "Process improvement is never over."

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