State Department of Health reports show LIJ has New York’s best success rate for bypass surgery, while North Shore University Hospital is #1 for emergency angioplasty results, with significantly better outcomes than statewide average

NEW HYDE PARK, NY – According to the latest three-year report released by NYS Department of Health, LIJ Medical Center ranks as the best hospital in New York for heart bypass surgery. And, according to Dominic Masaro and Charles Schulman, the state got it right.

Late last year, Mr. Masaro, 74, of Fresh Meadows, Queens, a diabetic for more than 30 years who has been on dialysis for three years, suffered chest pains and was rushed to LIJ in an ambulance. There, it was determined that he needed triple-bypass surgery, as a result of three severely blocked arteries. Today, Mr. Masaro, a retired bus driver with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), who still goes to dialysis three times a week, is comfortable and thriving. He credits the physician who performed his surgery, Jacob Scheinerman, MD, with saving his life.

Charles Schulman, 77, of Woodmere in Nassau County, is celebrating two years of good health following his triple bypass surgery in late 2007. Mr. Schulman, an attorney, had been under the care of a cardiologist due to chronic high blood pressure and irregular heartbeat. While walking into the Queens Courthouse, Mr. Shulman felt his heart was pounding, and knew he was in trouble. Court staff got him to LIJ, where an angiogram revealed that he, too, required Dr. Scheinerman’s services and triple-bypass surgery. Now, anticipating his birthday on October 7, Mr. Schulman says he only needs two candles on his cake -- one to mark his life before surgery and one for his “second chance” following his life-saving surgery.

Former patients Charles Schulman (l) and Dominic Masaro (r) met for the first time at Long Island Jewish to discuss their common experience--- a lifesaving, triple-bypass surgery. Joined by their physician, the two survivors of this delicate surgery spoke at a press conference held to spotlight the fact that LIJ had just been ranked the premier hospital in New York State for bypass surgery by the state's Department of Health.

At a news conference held today at LIJ, Mr. Masaro and his wife Donna, and Mr. Schulman joined Dr. Scheinerman to celebrate their good health -- and LIJ’s number-one ranking for heart bypass surgery in a newly released report on coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery by the New York State Department of Health (DOH). The hospital had a risk-adjusted mortality rate of one percent for bypass surgery coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery during the three-year period covered in the report (2004-06) - the lowest in the state. LIJ was among only two hospitals in New York State – and the only one in the Queens/Long Island market – that had a success rate that was significantly better from a statistical standpoint than the statewide average.
 
A separate DOH report released at the same time on angioplasty -- angioplasty is a procedure used to clear blocked heart arteries and increase blood flow -- showed that North Shore University Hospital (NSUH) performed more emergency angioplasty cases than any other program in New York State (1,222 from 2004-06) and was the only hospital in the state that had a significantly better success rate than the statewide average. In addition, NSUH cardiologist Lawrence Ong, MD, was one of only three cardiologists in New York – among 300 statewide – who had superior outcomes.

“The results of the state’s latest reports help eliminate the guesswork for heart patients, who are often confounded by a multitude of advertising claims and studies about who can best meet their needs, “ said Stanley Katz, MD, senior vice president of cardiovascular services for the North Shore-LIJ Health System, and chairman of cardiology at NSUH and LIJ. “These Department of Health reports, based on an exhausting analysis of 58,614 open-heart surgery cases and 167,752 angioplasty procedures, clearly show that patients can count on getting superior cardiac care, regardless of whether they go to LIJ or North Shore University Hospital.

NSUH and LIJ have a combined Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery chaired by Alan Hartman, MD, who along with LIJ’s Robert Palazzo, MD, were among only 11 heart surgeons statewide – out of about 145 cardiac surgeons in 39 hospitals statewide – who had outcomes that were significantly better than the statewide average. During the three-year period analyzed by the DOH, NSUH and LIJ performed 1,906 CABG surgeries – more than any other hospital in New York. In fact, the North Shore-LIJ Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery has the third-largest program in the United States, behind only the Cleveland Clinic and the Mayo Clinic.

LIJ’s top ranking for bypass surgery follows its number-one placement in the state last year for angioplasty.
The DOH’s full reports are available at: www.nyhealth.gov/statistics/diseases/cardiovascular/ Scroll down to Adult Cardiac Surgery or Percutaneous Coronary Interventions.
 
Media Contacts: Michelle Pinto
516-465-2649
Terry Lynam
516-465-2640/2600
tlynam@nshs.edu