For immediate release:

Meadow View Nursing & Respiratory Care Center Launches Congestive Heart Failure Program Exclusively with Lourdes Cardiology P.C./South Jersey Heart Group

This year alone, more than 400,000 people will hear the hard news from their doctors that they have joined nearly 3 million people in the United States who suffer from congestive heart failure. It's a serious problem, and here in southern New Jersey, Meadow View Nursing & Respiratory Care Center is doing something about it. Patients in both long-term care and short-stay rehabilitation programs who have been diagnosed with congestive heart failure will benefit from the center's new program to closely monitor their condition, educate them and help them manage the symptoms.

Meadow View's congestive heart failure program is rooted in a recent exclusive agreement with Lourdes Cardiology P.C./South Jersey Heart Group to provide expert congestive heart failure care at the center. Doctor Joshua Crasner and Advanced Practice Nurse Jackie Roberts of Lourdes Cardiology P.C./South Jersey Heart Group have been fully credentialed as staff members with full privileges at Meadow View, according to Meadow View Administrator Margot Domingo. "Our new Congestive Heart Failure Program continues our efforts to provide a customized approach to health care for all of our patients, by providing a comprehensive range of health care services. With Doctor Crasner's and Nurse Roberts' skill and experience added to our team, we can provide an unparalleled level of care for people who live with heart failure. Their addition to our staff is fantastic news for our patients."

That's because Lourdes Cardiology P.C./South Jersey Heart Group is dedicated to remaking the way heart care services are practiced, says Anne Nachtigall, Partner Development Coordinator for Meadow View. "As one of the largest providers of cardiac care in the region, Lourdes Cardiology P.C./South Jersey Heart Group is working to eliminate the barriers that have separated hospitals, physician’s offices and nursing care centers in the past," says Nachtigall. "At Meadow View, we're working together with them to put into practice congestive heart failure care that is truly centered on the patient, and more efficient than ever."

Administrator Domingo says that the program will look closely and regularly at patients, including daily health monitoring. She explains, "Rapid, significant changes in weight can be telltale signs of changes in cardiac health. Any deterioration in the CHF patient's status will be reported to Dr. Crasner and Ms. Roberts in order to implement a timely therapeutic intervention, thereby preventing a readmission to the hospital.

Continued Domingo, "Our staff will be trained in proper protocols, and patients will receive numerous educational experiences during their stays. We're taking exceptional steps to ensure exceptional patient outcomes."