The Hospital for Special Care (HSC) in New Britain has opened what it’s calling the first comprehensive heart failure in-patient unit in Connecticut.
The new facility is designed to cut down on costly emergency room re-admissions for heart failure patients and offer treatment and assistance to patients looking to regain or maintain their functional ability while dealing with the complications from their disease.
The unit will be under the direction of board-certified intensivists and cardiologists.
 “Our goal is to stabilize a patient’s medical condition, while improving his or her functional ability, helping them return home more quickly,” said Paul Scalise, senior vice president of medical affairs at Hospital for Special Care. “We have developed this new unit to augment, not replace, what acute care hospitals do for heart failure patients in a cost-effective manner. Patients in this program will receive a regimen of medical therapy coupled with occupational and physical therapies.”
Hospital officials say the new unit is needed to help deal with the state’s aging population, which is increasingly susceptible to heart failure.Â
Among candidates for treatment in the new program are patients who:
•·      Have received a diagnosis of heart failure, were discharged from an acute-care hospital within the last 30 days, and require a period of treatment and strengthening;
•·      Have had recurrent admissions to an acute-care hospital for management of their heart failure;
•·      Are preparing for the implantation of a cardiac mechanical assistive device such as a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD), and need strengthening prior to surgery; and
•·      Have recently received a LVAD and need therapy and education prior to returning home.
