Community Corner

Gwinnett Medical Center Opens New Heart Center

The Lawrenceville hospital received a $3.2 million dollar donation from Clyde and Sandra Strickland to help build the center.

Years of dreams have finally become a reality at .

Recently, the Lawrenceville hospital opened its new Strickland Heart Center. It's named for their major benefactors, Clyde and Sandra Strickland, who donated $3.2 million dollars to the project.

“The significant generosity of the Stricklands helped us realize the vision of advanced and comprehensive cardiovascular services in the Gwinnett community at an accelerated pace,” said Phil Wolfe, president and CEO of Gwinnett Medical Center in a release. “Without their gift, it would have taken much longer to pay for the new Heart & Vascular Center."

Find out what's happening in Suwaneewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The opening of the new center means Gwinnett residents will not have to travel as far to receive the treatment they need. “We built this facility because the community realized the importance of cardiac services in Gwinnett,” said Dr. Manfred Sandler, GMC’s medical director of cardiology and chairman of the GMC Foundation. 

The staff at GMC are also very pleased with their new facility. The 40,000 square foot center houses advanced technology, including state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization labs and operating rooms, which are also much larger than the previous ones. Nurse Wayne Gaskin told us how spacious the new Cath Labs are. "The old labs were about 650 square feet including the control room. These new labs are 950."

Find out what's happening in Suwaneewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

There were also just two labs in the old facility, but once the Strickland Heart Center is fully completed, there will be a total of four. Gaskin said the heart and vascular center treated 2,000 cases in years past but expect to double that with the new setup.

The second Cath Lab is not operational yet, but should be ready in time for Christmas.

Patients can also have a more comfortable recovery. The new center features private rooms where families can be with their loved ones. "Before, our rooms were split with just a curtain between the patients," said Gaskin.

The nurses station also received an upgrade, creating a better flow and more comfortable environment.

Another major factor in the design is openness. The windows lining the hallways from the labs and operating rooms look out into the parking lot, then over trees and to the bright blue sky. Beth Okun, spokesperson for GMC, said this was done for a couple of reasons. First, to be more soothing to the patients and second, to allow more natural light inside the building.

On the second floor are the Cardiovascular Operating Rooms. They too feature the latest technology, including integrated video. This projects the procedure on video screens, allowing surgeons and nurses to have a clear view of the surgery as it happens. "It used to be that nurses had to have 'OR hearing.' They had to listen to what was going on and determine what the surgeon needed," said nurse Wendy Moran. Now the nurses are able to watch the surgery and see the procedure making for a faster and smoother process-- saving time and lives.

The ICU for the CVOR is still under construction, but should be ready before the end of the year. It will be located a stone's throw from the operating room, meaning patients will not have to travel far to begin their recovery.

This past March, GMC started offering cardiac angioplasty and stenting. The hospital plans to launch its open heart surgery program in January 2012.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Suwanee