ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – Everyone can be investing in their heart health. Those deposits can be simple like focusing on healthy habits like diet and exercise, but even with the best preventative care, emergencies can still happen.
That is why Carilion Clinic is investing in advanced technology in its new Crystal Spring Tower. That building will be home to the company’s Cardiovascular Institute and is expected to be open and operational this summer.
“We had everyone who works in this space weigh in on where they wanted things to be,” Cardiovascular Institute Vice President Marguerite Underwood said.
From the lights, to the monitors, and the power strips overhead, the finishing details are coming together, and that includes more advanced equipment.
“An endovascular operating room is the most complex room in any facility,” Underwood said. “This certainly wasn’t available when I started. This wasn’t even imagined when I started.”
Underwood started with Carilion Clinic in 1998 as a travel nurse. In those decades, much of the healthcare system has transformed including the technology that saves lives. That includes the Phillips FORS machine that uses light instead of radiation to help feed a catheter through the body of a heart patient facing an emergency.
“This is one that was just FDA approved last year and we were able to get it for this tower, for our patients so we are so excited,” Underwood said.
Carilion Clinic treats 700 heart attacks annually and with the growth in the region that number is only expected to go up.
“This building definitely represents a lot of community need based on the fact that these are significantly growing services,” Cardiovascular Institute Senior Director for Business Beth Bankston said.
That is why making loved ones comfortable in expanded waiting rooms and response times more efficient with a new helicopter landing pad were all considered in the design of this tower.
“There’s no reason for patients and our community to go anywhere else outside the region because we offer care for the most complex and sickest patients inside of our area,” Marguerite Underwood said.
The tower will also have more than just the Cardiovascular Institute. It will also house 5 trauma bays and 125 emergency department beds.
The tower will open its Emergency Department first. That is expected to happen April 15. The rest of tower, including the Cardiovascular Institute will then open in mid-July.
Kate Capodanno is featuring heart health and the push for research and technology to save lives through her Woman of Impact campaign with the American Heart Association.
The American Heart Association has invested more than $5 billion in scientific research projects since 1949. This has helped with technology like making stents more effective and the first artificial heart valve replacement.
Copyright 2025 WDBJ. All rights reserved.
link