Heart & Vascular Care

Heart Care

From emergency care to complex cardiac surgery, our heart care program features a team of outstanding cardiologists and cardiac surgeons, working together to provide advanced care. View our complete list of Heart Care Services...

Designated Heart Attack Center

Paramedics in Los Angeles County no longer take victims of heart attack or chest pain to the nearest hospital. Instead, patients are rushed to hospitals – including White Memorial – that have been designated as specialty heart attack centers by the L.A. County Department of Health Services. White Memorial has met rigorous standards for treatment times, clinical processes and quality outcomes to earn this designation, also known as a STEMI Receiving Center. (“STEMI” is a medical term that means heart attack.) This specialized treatment saves lives, including the life of Sabino Gonzalez. Read his story...

Cardiovascular Catheterization Lab

Cardiac catheterization is revolutionizing heart care. It is the most definitive way to diagnose coronary and valve disease. It is also used to open and treat blocked arteries. Our cardiovascular catheterization team and an interventional cardiologist on site or on call 24 hours a day, every day, to provide rapid treatment whenever it is needed.

Electrophysiology Lab

Electrophysiology is used to assess irregular heartbeats and heart rhythms. Electrophysiology or “EP” studies are used to check how a pacemaker is working, what causes abnormal heart rhythms to start, how effective certain drugs are, where a pacemaker should be implanted or whether more studies are needed. The Heart and Vascular Care Center’s EP capabilities include placement of the Automatic Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (AICD), treatment – called “ablations”– for atrial fibrillation (when the heart does not beat properly because of interruptions in its electrical pathways), treatment for other irregular heart rhythms, and additional EP studies.

Cardiac Surgery

White Memorial Medical Center’s new specialized surgical suites house sophisticated technology for cardiac surgery. Design innovations optimize space, improve coordination and create potentially life-saving efficiencies for the patient care team. The team includes some of the region’s finest cardiologists and cardiac surgeons, experts who are pioneering new, cutting-edge techniques. We dedicate a clinical nurse specialist to manage all aspects of each cardiac surgery patient’s care, including pre- and post-admission testing, education and after-care. This nurse is also the single point of contact for the patient’s family and referring physicians — so questions can be answered with one phone call.

Cardiac Rehabilitation

Our Cardiac Rehabilitation Program helps recovering patients return to a healthier and more active lifestyle as safely and quickly as possible. The program includes a carefully-monitored exercise regimen using state-of-the-art equipment that strengthens and improves the activity of the heart following a heart attack, coronary bypass, valve replacement or other cardiac procedures. Education, counseling and family support is offered through the collaboration of dieticians, physicians, exercise physiologists, occupational therapists, nurses and other health professionals. The program meets the highest standards of quality patient care, and is the only one in Los Angeles County to be certified by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation.

Computed Tomography Angiography

Cardiac Computed Tomography Angiography (Cardiac CTA) is a specialized x-ray that is primarily used to help identify diseased, narrowed, enlarged or blocked vessels in the heart, lungs, brain, kidneys, legs and arms. When a coronary stent has been placed in a blood vessel to restore blood flow, cardiac CTA will show whether the stent is still functional. Cardiac CTA is also used to detect an aneurysm (ballooning out of a section of a blood vessel), which could lead to a heart attack, stroke, or even death. Our technicians use sophisticated equipment to rapidly take x-rays from many different views, producing detailed images that are combined by computer to form three-dimensional images. These images include views of inside the coronary arteries, which were previously obtainable only through cardiac catheterization.

More Information

For more information about our services, call The Heart and Vascular Care Center at White Memorial at (888) 488-1288.