The cardiovascular department at the Baruch Padeh Medical Center, Poriya includes 23 inpatient beds and 9 cardiac intensive care beds, 2 catheterization rooms and a room for urgent catheterizations, handling as many as 1300 patients a year. New echocardiogram devices, including 3D and ICE, have recently been acquired. Headed by Prof. Ofer Amir, the department includes heads of specialized units/services for catheterizations, echocardiogram, electrophysiology, cardiology, as well as high-level nursing and technical staff.
Until 2015, no unit with a specialization in cardiothoracic surgery had been established in the entire region of the Galilee, Golan Heights and the Jordan Valley. The nearest medical centers were in Haifa or Tel Aviv for patients that needed bypass graft surgery, valve implantation surgery, aortic surgery, etc.
Even cardiothoracic trauma, whether of injured civilians (eg. due to car accidents) or soldiers could not be appropriately surgically addressed in any of the medical centers located in the north region of Israel (Poriya, Zefat, Naharyia or Afula), and casualties would be rushed to Haifa or the Central part of Israel via the air or ambulance.
The great change occurred during the spring of 2015, the Cardiothoracic Surgery unit was established as part of the Cardiovascular department at the Baruch Padeh Medical Center, Poriya. The unit was established by collaboration and under the full supervision of Prof. Ehud Raanani who is one of the leading national surgeons and globally renowned in his expertise. Prof. Raanani serves as the Head of the Cardiac Department at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel, which includes the largest cardiac surgery department in Israel. An entire staff from the cardiac surgery department at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center, that includes cardiothoracic surgeons, cardiopulmonary technicians and intensive care nursing staff were physically relocated from Tel Aviv to Poriya in the north to enable the establishment and operation of the unit, which at its outset operated with the highest skillsets and standards, for the benefit of the entire northern population.
The surgical unit is headed by Dr. Erez Kachel, one of the most experienced and esteemed surgeons in Israel who worked for many years at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center and specialized in cardiac surgeries in Toronto, Canada in one of the world leading centers in this area. The unit in the Baruch Padeh Medical Center, Poriya serves as super-center for cardiothoracic surgery and backs up and supports all the other northern medical centers 24/7. Under the leadership of Dr. Kachel and Sheba's top medical team, dozens of complicated cardiac surgeries were successfully completed. The eminent team includes Prof. Raanani, Dr. Leonid Sternik, Dr Alex Lipey and Dr. Ami Sheinfeld who personally participate in the complicated cardiac surgeries.
Through the establishment of the Cardiothoracic Surgery unit the cardiovascular healthcare of patients is provided with the availability of procedures such as bypass graft, valve implantation and correction, including the usage of minimally invasive procedures and emergency operations (such as aortic rupture, and cardiothoracic injuries).
In addition, the surgical backup enables the catheterization unit perform life-saving, complicated procedures that have not been performed before, including trans-catheter aortic valve implantation and corrections, correction of the atrial septal defect and sealing by springs dangerous voids that may be prone to cardiac thrombosis, which are actually performed in the cardiovascular unit in the Poriya Medical Center. These procedures are conducted in individual medical centers in the State of Israel, and are not done in any other medical center in the north of Israel.
Instruction booklet for patients' candidates for open heart surgery