Frye Heart Center
 

The Frye Heart Center has been serving the patients, families and physicians in the Unifour and surrounding area since 1985. Staffed by board certified cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons and anesthesiologists, the Frye Heart Center is one of the few facilities providing such a wide range of services between Asheville, Charlotte and Winston Salem. Our centralized location has distinct advantages. Patients can benefit by easy access to tertiary services and families may not require overnight hotel stays or have to endure long, often tiring drives to hospitals out of the area. Frye is also convenient and accessible for many physicians wishing to visit their patients.

In today’s healthcare market, high technology is a major force in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. We have made a commitment to provide that technology, and to combine it with the human touch our patients have come to appreciate and expect from us.

Awards and Recognitions

• Named "Best in the Charlotte Region" for overall cardiac care, cardiology and coronary intervention procedures in 2008 by HealthGrades the healthcare ratings company
• UnitedHealth Premium Cardiac Specialty Center in cardiovascular surgery, electrophysiology and interventional cardiology
• CIGNA 2008 quality designations for coronary artery bypass graft
• 2008 Bronze recipient American Heart Association Get with the Guidelines - Coronary Artery Disease award
• Particpant in RACE (Reperfusion in Acute MI in Carolina Emergency departments) program - designed to improve processes needed to expedite reperfusion therapy for all eligible AMI patients
  

At the Frye Heart Center, we provide advanced technology including…

Board Certified Cardiologists, Cardiothoracic Surgeons and Anesthesiologists

Service Scope

Open Heart Surgery

 Invasive Cardiology

• Digital Catheterization 
• Coronary Angioplasty
• Intracoronary Stents/drug eluting stents
• Rotablator, Directional Athrectomy and Thrompectomy
• Pacemaker, bi-ventricular pacing for management of CHF, and ICD/Bi-V ICD Implantation and Revision
• Anjiojet system for removal of Intracoronary Thrombus
• Intravascular Ultrasound
• Intracardiac Ultrasound

 Electrophysiology

• 96 channel recording system
• RF Ablation
• 3-D mapping
• Implant and analysis of all forms of pacing, bi-ventricular pacing for management of CHF, and ICD and Bi-V ICD
• NIPS analysis and advanced programming of implanted ICDs.

 Non-Invasive Cardiology

• Tilt Table Studies
• 2D Echo/Doppler
• Transesophageal Echo (TEE)
• Stress/Nuclear Stress Testing
• Holter Monitoring
• King of Hearts long term monitoring

Facilities

• Dedicated Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit with specially trained staff to care for patients after open-heart surgery.
• 37 bed Telemetry unit with focus on cardiac rehab and early discharge from the hospital
• 16 bed Observation Unit for outpatient cath and interim telemetry support for short term intensive observation
• Two dedicated open heart surgery suites
• Three Cardiac Catheterization suites with digital imaging capability
• Electrophysiology lab for study and ablation treatment of cardiac arrhythmias

 Special Services

• YMCA based Cardiopulmonary Rehab program
• Hospitality House – a historic home across from the hospital available for families-based on availability-to spend the night yet remain in the vicinity.
• Corporate Wellness program
• Heart Helpers Support group – open to heart attack survivors, family, friends and caregivers.

Interventional Procedures: Specially trained cardiologists at the Frye Heart Center may correct damaged heart vessels or blockages in the catheterization laboratory using non-surgical procedures. Of the many benefits of this approach, our patients like that they may return to work and other daily activities faster. The cath lab also uses an Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS) imaging device that allows the doctor to see anatomy and results of the interventions from the inside of the coronary arteries and Intracardiac Echo (ICE) for echo from within the cardiac chambers.

Electrophysiology Procedures: This service provides sophisticated recording and 3-D mapping of cardiac conduction, along with ablation treatment of arrhythmias. We also perform advanced NIPS testing of implanted ICD’s to maximize all three modalities and to lengthen the useful life of these costly devices.

Surgical Services: When patients require surgery to correct their heart problem, coronary artery bypass and valve repair/replacement are available at the Frye Heart Center including some of the latest “minimally invasive” surgery techniques.  These procedures may be done while the heart is beating, which means some of the issues associated with going onto the bypass pump can be avoided.

Nursing Care: Nursing care at the Frye Heart Center includes four special care units: the post surgery Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU), a Post Cardiology Recovery Unit (PCRU), and a Telemetry unit which is located in the Heart Tower. Each unit is equipped with sophisticated monitoring systems.

 Other special units are the Critical Care Unit (CCU) and Intermediate Care Unit (IMCU) which provide support and care for the seriously and critically ill heart patients as well as surgical patients needing extended critical care after their stay in CVICU. Many patients that receive stents, Angioplasty, Rotablator and advanced interventions as well as MI patients are cared for on these units.

Cardiac Rehabilitation: The Cardiac Rehabilitation program at the Frye Heart Center is one of the earliest established programs in North Carolina. The nurses and staff instruct patients and families before surgery and start the recovery exercises the afternoon the patient comes out of surgery. The exercise regimen increases until the patient is discharged a couple of days later at which time they are invited to join our outpatient program at the Hickory Foundation YMCA.

Contacts:

• Heart Center Administration: (828) 32-HEART (324-3278) or 315-3278
• Heart Center Administrator:  (828) 315-3745 
• Non-Invasive Cardiology/EKG: (828) 315-3394
• PCRU (Outpatient Cardiac Catheterization): (828) 315-3743
• Heart Tower Lobby (828) 315-5388
• Cardiopulmonary Rehab: (828) 315-3563
• Central Scheduling: (828) 315-3390
• Hospitality House: (828) 315-4544 or 315-6896
  
  

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