Open Heart Surgery on the Kitsap Peninsula

Until the UW Medicine and Harrison Hospital started a joint program in cardiothoracic surgery started in summer 2003, open-heart surgery was not available in Kitsap County. The program was formed to improve patient access to advanced cardiac services. Cardiothoracic surgery and elective percutaneous coronary interventions can now be performed locally for patients living in Kitsap County.

A similar venture has been in place for several years at Northwest Hospital in north Seattle. Both programs are part of the UW Medicine Regional Heart Center.

UW surgeons perform cardiac surgery at Harrison's main hospital campus in East Bremerton, while Harrison provides the adjunct staff and nursing care. The partnership blends the advantages of a major academic medical center with the neighborly care of a community hospital. The program benefits from the support of the local physician community, particularly cardiologists from Kitsap Cardiology consultants and the Doctors Clinic.

The UW surgeons appreciate the quality of care and the patient flow architecture of Harrison Hospital, which has a critical-care unit near the surgery suites. The hospital also has a chest pain clinic, an advanced cardiac catheterization lab, echocardiology, and angiography. The county has emergency medical services noted for public education efforts, quick response time and heart-attack survival rates. Harrison Hospital also works closely with a local cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation institute.

Dr. Ed Verrier, UW chief of cardiothoracic surgery, is the medical director for Harrison's cardiac services. Procedures are mostly being performed by surgeons Dr. Christopher King and Dr. Bill Caine. Anesthesiologists with experience in cardiothoracic surgery are available through Independent Anesthesiologists of Kitsap County.