Heart procedures at 11 community hospitals approved

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- A state health board has voted to allow 11 hospitals to perform angioplasties without having a license to perform heart surgery.

NJ.com reported that the state Health Care Administration Board voted Thursday to allow the community hospitals to offer the elective artery-clearing procedure.

The 18 hospitals in the state with licenses to perform cardiac surgery criticized the policy and say it jeopardizes their fiscal health.

David Knowlton, president of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, says that the risk of an emergency during angioplasty is small, but does exist.

The 11 hospitals are Bayonne Medical Center, Clara Maass Medical Center, Community Medical Center, Holy Name Medical Center, JFK Medical Center, Overlook Medical Center, Raritan Bay Medical Center, Riverview Medical Center, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Somerset, Trinitas Regonal Medical Center, and Virtua-West Jersey.

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