Watauga County, North Carolina

This past July, the Watauga Medical Center (WMC) in Boone began performing cardiac catherizations, 24/7. With this new round-the- clock coverage, cardiologists, interventional cardiologists, emergency department providers, and emergency first responders can partner to diagnose problems with blood flow, blood pressure, and valve function, which can save lives and reduce the chances of long-term damage. On average, more than 450 diagnostic cardiac catheterizations are done annually at WMC. And in August, ARHS opened a new Heart & Vascular Center at the WMC. The new 8,000-sq.-ft. facility has twelve exam rooms, three device rooms, and two heart failure treatment rooms. The new name represents the enhanced service offerings and multi-disciplined team of board-certified cardiologists, advanced practice providers, cardiac nurses, office staff, and device technicians that all partner with patients to manage symptoms, monitor medications, and create customized treatment plans. In addition, ARHS has initiated a new program to have four medical residents working in primary care in the County’s rural communities. “That’s primary physicians for folks that normally don’t like going to the doctor,” says Jackson. “They’re all specifically trained in that area. We’ve got four, this year, and we’ll have four each of the next two years, so eventually we’ll have, over the next three years, 12 medical residents working within the local healthcare system to expand the types of service that we can provide in a rural setting. So, we have seen some growth in that regard. I hope the pandemic doesn’t dent that, at all, because they’ve got some pretty ambitious plans to sink about $90 million in physical infrastructure improvement to go along with some of that expanding care. And we see that, in some cases, especially in the orthopedic side of things, you’re looking at a lot of people that come from Florida and other locations to get procedures done because of the quality of care, and the fact that they’re able to get rehabilitation done in the same facility, in most cases. But it’s also a pretty nice place to