A doctor performed open-heart surgery for the first time in the history of Comal County on Monday at Christus Santa Rosa Hospital — New Braunfels.
Dr. Jeffrey McNiel and a hospital surgical team performed a quadruple-bypass on patient Danny Giles, marking a landmark procedure for the hospital as it begins to offer interventional cardiology and cardiac surgery to local residents.
“It’s definitely a big milestone,” said Brad Hamilton, the hospital’s director of cardiovascular services.
Giles was reported to be feeling well after the successful four-hour surgery to improve blood flow to his heart, and could be released by the end of the week, McNeil said.
“The procedure went exactly as we had planned,” McNeil said. “Everything went smoothly from beginning to end.”
McNeil said members of the surgical team have spent months preparing for the hospital’s first open-heart surgery, performing similar operations at other Christus facilities in San Antonio and making sure the hospital’s newly renovated operating room was equipped for the procedure.
With the first successful surgery under their belt, he and hospital officials said it could serve as a springboard to attract local patients who no longer have to leave the city limits to receive cardiovascular care.
“It’s a great opportunity to extend the services that Christus is able to provide in New Braunfels,” McNeil said. “Now these patients can be cared for locally without having to travel to San Antonio.”
Expanding services and reducing the number of people leaving New Braunfels for medical care were two of Christus’ stated goals when the San Antonio-based health care provider bought the hospital in early 2008.
Christus is now in the process of investing $10 million in a full-service interventional cardiology and cardiac surgery program, with construction scheduled to begin this month on a new 17,000 square-foot cardiac care unit, planned to be finished by next November.
After its first open-heart procedure Monday, Christus officials said the New Braunfels facility is already equipped to perform one-to-two surgeries each week.
“It really took the entire team and staff to make this possible,” Hamilton said. “This will help us to build a robust interventional cardiology program, and offer a full range of cardiac services to residents in New Braunfels.”
