The Herald-Zeitung

With the hospital’s first quadruple bypass, open-heart surgery patient sitting upright in a wheelchair next to him, Jim Wesson announced at a press conference Friday afternoon the success of the procedure performed on Nov. 9 at Christus Santa Rosa-New Braunfels.

“With a newly renovated room for surgery and the O.R. and I.C.U. staff standing ready as backup, it gave us the opportunity to prepare for a first in New Braunfels, but certainly was not a first for the Christus system,” said Jim Wesson, vice president of CSR-NB. “The entire cardiac team has spent months preparing for this. … This week was a huge step for us, and certainly you can’t do this kind of work without the encouragement and leadership needed.”

An interventional cardiology program was identified as the No. 2 priority for the community when Christus took over McKenna Memorial Hospital in February 2008, said Don Beeler, CEO of the Christus hospital system.

Dr. Frank Rubalcava, a member of the cardiac team, spoke on behalf of the main surgeon, Dr. Jeffrey McNeil, who was with a patient.

“We’ve come a long way. This is a very exciting time for us that we can provide such specialized care to New Braunfels and Comal County,” Rubalcava said.

Wesson then presented the patient, Danny Gilles, with mementos of his hospital stay, including a framed copy of the Herald-Zeitung article announcing the success of his surgery.

“For a bad experience, it’s been very good,” Gilles said.

Gilles was in good spirits and in good shape. Doctors expect him to be released today.

“I’ve been walking the halls and harassing the nurses. It’s been nice. Well, not too nice,” he said.

Rubalcava explained some of the history of cardiology in New Braunfels that led up to the possibility of this surgery.

“When we came here in 1995, there was a cardiologist on staff, but most cardiac work was sent to San Antonio. The first catheter lab began in 1998 or 1999, but still most of the cardiac care was sent to San Antonio,” Rubalcava said.

With the set up of this new interventional cardiovascular program, the hospital hopes to prevent local patients from heading out of town for major procedures, which interrupts the doctor/patient relationship, he said.

By next November, Christus should have the cardiac care unit in a newly renovated 17,000-square-foot, full-service interventional cardiology and cardiac surgery program, a $10 million investment. Other cardiac services should be in place before the renovation is complete.

“In June, we hope to bring in the interventional cardiac care, where we go in and open up arteries with stints or balloons,” Rubalcava said.