Mercy Heart Center: World-Class Care...Right Next Door

November 13, 2003

For nearly three decades, Mercy Medical Center-Sioux City has been the area's leading hospital for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases - the number one killer in the United States.

The new Mercy Heart Center open house will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Nov. 23.

Mercy Heart Center's leadership role in the fight against heart disease has been acknowledged at the national level by independent organizations that monitor and objectively measure healthcare quality.

Now, the new Mercy Heart Center makes it possible for Sioux City area residents to continue receiving world-class cardiovascular care close to home. The $25 million building is a full-service cardiac care facility that provides the accessibility and convenience of an outpatient setting and seamlessly serves the more acute needs of inpatients.

Located on the Mercy campus in downtown Sioux City, the new Heart Center sits atop a four-level parking ramp with approximately 190 parking spaces. The new parking facility links directly to the hospital's existing parking ramp on Sixth Street and has other access points from Fifth Street, including valet parking from the hospital's circle drive along Fifth Street.

The two-story, 66,000-square-foot medical building that crowns the parking ramp houses a full spectrum of cardiovascular services. The two new medical floors also link directly into key areas in the hospital's south building: surgery suites, coronary care units, emergency/trauma and radiology.

The fourth floor contains offices and examination rooms for the physicians and staff of Cardiovascular Associates. Non-invasive diagnostic services (treadmill stress testing, echocardiograms, electrocardiograms, etc.) also are located on the fourth floor and share a family waiting room with Cardiovascular Associates.

Cardiac/Pulmonary Rehabilitation's gym occupies approximately 3,000 square feet on the fourth floor and features 12-foot, floor-to-ceiling windows on the south and east sides. Cardiac/pulmonary rehab contains an indoor walking track, treadmills, stationary bikes, upper body exercise equipment, free weights, NuSteps, Airdynes and universal exercise equipment.

Two new, state-of-the-art catheterization labs are located on the fifth floor of the Heart Center. The fifth floor also includes a new short stay unit with 12 patient beds - nine private rooms and a three-bed recovery area. The nine private rooms are used for patients preparing for cardiac surgery, as well as preparation and recovery from catheterization procedures. The three-bed recovery area is a holding area to service the various needs of Heart Center inpatients.

In designing the new Heart Center, architects focused on creating a comfortable, non-institutional environment. Extensive use of glass on interior and exterior walls will help patients and their families find their way around by making it easy to locate visual landmarks.