KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Heart Institute of the Caribbean (HIC) today announced the opening of an “ultra-modern, fully equipped” cardiac intensive care unit (ICU) dedicated to the care of heart patients.

The six-bed, high acuity unit at HIC, which is scheduled to be open to the public March 2017, is the first of its kind in Jamaica and will be complemented with a 20-bed cardiac telemetry unit and will be the first and only such service in Jamaica dedicated to the care of heart patients.

“No effort was spared in ensuring that the units meet and in most cases exceed current international standards. That was the reason we engaged the services of one of the leading hospital architects in the world, Ansel & Bailey, based in London, UK with a track record of high quality healthcare design for over 100 years,” explained Dr Madu, Chairman and CEO of the Heart Institute of the Caribbean.

HIC explained in a release a short while ago that, the intensive care and telemetry units at HIC have been designed to meet and exceed international standards with dedicated oxygen and medical airlines leading to individual bed head units for each patient.

All beds are equipped with individual patient monitors linked to central monitoring stations and accessible to an international panel of experts to assist remotely in the care of patients to achieve optimal outcome.  

In addition, each bed in the intensive care unit comes with a dedicated ventilator for those patients who may need ventilator support.  Three zones of healing music are provided to create comfort for patients while being treated, HIC said.

“We recognise that a very important factor in ensuring good outcome for critically ill patients is infection control. In recognition of this, we have employed the use of Air Handling Units and ensured that the intensive care unit has a laminar air flow environment, allowing for 20 to 25 air exchanges per hour, thus providing clean and filtered air at all times for patients and staff.

“In line with our vision of providing high quality cardiac care that is accessible and affordable, HIC has put in place mechanisms to ensure that these services will be accessible to all patients including those with significant financial constraints.

“We have done so for years with other services including offering Free Angiograms to heart attack patients in public hospitals, building Heart Stations in communities and also hosting ECG Days that ensure services to the public at heavily subsidised rates – all supported by the work of the HIC Foundation,” Madu said.

HIC has won multiple local and international awards for innovation and leadership in cardiovascular healthcare service delivery.