Newton Memorial's Heart Center is open: ceremonies to be held tomorrow and Saturday

NEWTON - You never know. On Tuesday, July 19, 2005, I gave birth to Ashley Rose. Two and a half weeks before her due date, she was my first, and will be my only, child. In keeping with my intensity as a competitive marathon runner, she came fast and furiously. One of the long-time nurses at Newton Memorial Hospital said it was “the most intense” delivery she’d ever seen. My blood pressure had always been normal and was fine the Friday before when I had visited my doctor. With the delivery, my pressure spiked to a dangerous level. Over the next two days, it stabilized but was still high. I was released on Thursday with medication. On Friday, my parents visited to see the baby and my husband and I went into town. I started to feel funny. My thighs felt tingly and a small headache in the back of my head grew bigger and bigger. By the time my husband got me to the Emergency Room, the headache was unbearable. I don’t know what my systolic number was, but my diastolic was 125. The last thing I remember was clutching my husband’s hand and that of my friend, Newton Memorial’s COO, Sean O’Rourke who happened to be walking through the ER when I came in. The last thing I remember was hearing another vaguely familiar voice and an IV going in my arm. I don’t remember the next 12 hours. The next day, I learned the owner of the voice was cardiologist Dr. Robert Masci, who had been on call. I’d met him a year before when I’d written a story about him and his marathon running. The IV had been magnesium to lower my pressure. You never know when something heart-related will happen to you or a loved one. That’s why our community is lucky that now Dr. Masci, along with doctors Paul Owens, David Buyer, Richard Redline and William Scarpa, will be at the helm of Newton Memorial’s new Charles L. Tice Heart Center for Diagnostic Services. A special Grand Opening ceremony will be held late afternoon tomorrow in the hospital lobby and will include speeches followed by a “live tour” where attendees will see such things as stress tests and EKGs in progress. A Grand Opening for the general public will follow on Saturday, October 28th. Drs. Masci, Buyer and Owens are certified to perform Cardiac Catheterization (Cath) at the center. The first cath was performed last Monday, October 16th, and six were scheduled for last week. In addition to cardiac catheterization, the center provides echo cardiogram, EKG, holter monitor, echo stress and a pace maker clinic. Initial concentration will be on low-risk patients. More than 60% of these patients will not need invasive procedures. Newton Memorial’s Director of Business Development, Clinton Ackerman, said the seeds to build such a Center were planted five years ago, and construction began in April of 2005. The State inspected the Center three weeks ago, and Ackerman said they were found to be in 100 percent compliance both clinically and architecturally. “It’s great to be 100 percent.” As a “diagnostic center,” Ackerman said they must perform 200 studies in the first year and a half, 25% of which can be “normal” cases. “The state audits every case we do.” The long-term plan is for the Charles L. Tice Center is to become a diagnostic and treatment center within the next two-and-a-half to three years and ultimately, a full service center, Ackerman added. Once the center moves to the “treatment” phase, they will be able to perform such procedures as angioplasty and inserting stents. Bob Basile is the Center’s Radiological Technologist. He came to the new Center after 34 years at Passaic General to assist during the diagnostic procedures and help assure radiation protection for the entire staff and patient. “It’s exciting to be part of this Center,” he said, “It’s just the very beginning of something much, much larger for the community.” Dressed in her new radiation suit and a cap made by a co-worker, Jude Capparelli, a full-time nurse at the Charles L. Tice Center agrees, “It’s a great environment to work in and what’s happening here is so big.” A big part of the Center is its staff. Capparelli, Basile and Ackerman are all up-beat people, perfectly suited to make patients feel comfortable and keep them positive during their time at Newton Memorial. Dr. Masci, he said he couldn’t ask for a better staff. “The procedures we’re doing here are new to this building, but everyone on board had been doing them for many, many years.“ He said the nursing staff alone has over 60 years of combined experience and the three doctors performing caths over 40 years combined. “The Center is the opportunity to offer services here that before people had to travel to Morristown to find.” Dr. Masci said the Center is “setting the ground work to work into performing angioplasty. Because time is of the essence with myocardial infarction , we still have to transport patients to St. Clares or Morristown, but soon we’ll be able to hit that gold standard and offer full services here. You have to walk before you run.” And speaking of running, Dr. Masci practices what he preaches to his patients about leading a healthy lifestyle. He runs, water skis or does yoga most mornings and has run a 3:41:12 marathon. “[These sports] help me stay fit and focused,” he said, “Everyone needs to do some sort of aerobic activity. I tell people we’re closer to the caveman than the space man. Technologically, we’re very advanced, but physiologically, we have to go back to our roots to stay healthy. So, if you stay lean and mean like a caveman -- like man is meant to be -- you’ll substantially lower your risk for high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack and diabetes. Beyond that, I guarantee you’ll feel better and not only probably add years to your life, but definitely add life to your years.” Though he’d like to focus more on “prevention rather than intervention,” Dr. Masci said the state our nation sadly calls for more of the latter with “the baby boomers reaching a certain age and obesity at epidemic proportions.” Consequently, he said, “It’s essential that we now have a progressive, state-of-the-art facility right here in Sussex County. It‘s an honor to be a part of something this great and this big and I‘m looking forward to the Grand Opening when we can showcase it to the public.” Six months after giving birth to Ashley Rose, I was off the blood pressure medication. I will never forget how scared I was lying in the emergency room thinking I would die. You never know when , where or whom heart issues will strike. Our area is lucky that Newton Memorial has taken the initiative to make The Charles L. Tice Heart Center for Diagnostic Services a reality.