Wellspring Cardiovascular and St. Anthony's Houston partner to reduce amputations

Aug 31 2010

WELLSPRING CARDIOVASCULAR (Houston) and ST. ANTHONY'S HOSPITAL (Houston) announce a novel partnership in a move to dramatically reduce the number of amputations in the Houston area.  

Houston has one of the highest rates of amputation in the country (source: Verispan). St. Anthony's is the first hospital in the greater Houston area to require a patients' vascular anatomy be defined prior to moving forward with an amputation.  This forward-thinking initiative has been demonstrated to result in substantial reductions in the rate of amputation.

Jason Fisher, CEO of St. Anthony's Houston stated, "We are excited about the positive impact this will have on our community." It is the mission of the hospital to provide quality and accessible healthcare to the community. St. Anthony's is a licensed, acute care hospital located in Northeast Houston that recently upgraded their facility with new staff and state-of-the-art equipment.  By reducing the number of amputations, St Anthony's will fulfill their mission statement by offering an alternative to a drastic procedure thus allowing patients to begin a healthier life.

A vascular surgeon with a proven expertise in limb salvage (Wellspring), will determine the likelihood of success in the revascularization of the limb.  This same strategy was used by a group in Jacksonville, Florida with the result of a 50 percent decrease in amputations in just one year.