Statistics gathered by the National Institute for Health and Welfare comparing cardiac care centres throughout Finland show that patients undergoing treatment at the Central Ostrobothnia Central Hospital in the western city of Kokkola are on the mend the earliest.
“Statistics should always be taken with caution, but of course we are thrilled to hear the news. These results prove that central hospitals can provide excellent and effective acute care of heart attacks. There is no need to focus care in a few university hospitals that are located a long trip away,” says the Kokkola hospital’s Chief Physician and Cardiologist Jussi Sia.
A team effort
Sia says the hospital's entire team is the reason for its success.
“We doctors cannot emphasize enough that this is a cooperative effort. We are lucky to have a great group of employees here that is dedicated to their work. The work atmosphere is supportive, so it is no problem to come to work in the middle of the night if you have to,” he says.
The Central Ostrobothnia Central Hospital conducts 650 angiography sessions each year, a medical imaging technique used to visualize the inside of organs, veins and heart chambers. In addition, they also perform 350 angioplasty procedures annually to widen narrowed or obstructed arteries or veins. The team has two doctors and 12 x-ray and nursing specialists. Emergency situations that require immediate attention are handled on a voluntary basis with an alarm system.
“When the alarm goes off, there are three nurses and a doctor here within the half-hour.”
Sia emphasises that an unbroken chain of care is paramount to heart attack patient recovery. First, it is important that the diagnosis, emergency care and the angioplasty are carried out quickly.
“At least as important is the follow-up care, or intervening in the risk factors that cause heart attacks and strokes. Our hospital region has an excellent cardiovascular health care programme in place for this purpose,” says Sia.
The quality of service in Finnish health care is widely considered to be good. According to a survey published by the European Commission in 2000, Finland has the highest number of people satisfied with their hospital care system in the European Union, at 88 percent. The EU average for health care satisfaction in the 28 member countries is 41.3 percent.
