Gov. Nathan Deal stopped by Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NEGMC) in Gainesville Tuesday afternoon to sign into law Senate Bill 102, otherwise known as the Cardiac Care Bill.
In a brief ceremony held inside NEGMC's Walters Auditorium, Deal, flanked by local and state officials that had a role in crafting and passing the bill, officially signed the legislation that will create an Office of Cardiac Care in the State Department of Public Health, as well as providing state-sanctioned designations for cardiac care centers across Georgia.
State officials said the signing makes Georgia one of only a few states in the nation to have designated emergency cardiac care centers.
"We have two other types of registries with regards to strokes, as well as our trauma center designation," Deal said before signing the bill. "So it's altogether appropriate that we extend the same kind of designation structure into the cardiac care arena."
SB102 creates three levels of designation that relate to a cardiac care center's ability to perform certain types of procedures.
"The first level is what you would qualify for here [at NEGMC]. It is the designation of a hospital that has the capacity to do open-heart surgery," Deal explained. "The level two will be those who have [the capacity for] cardiac catheterizations, and, of course, that is sometimes all that is required."
Deal said a Level 3 cardiac care center would denote a facility that could stabilize an individual who is either having, or has had, a cardiac event.
"They can stabilize them and then transport them from there to a Level 2 or a Level 1 as the circumstances dictate," he continued.
Among the officials in attendance were District 10 Rep. Terry Rodgers of Clarkesville, Sen. Renee Unterman of Buford, District 27 Rep. Lee Hawkins of Gainesville and Sen. Butch Miller of Gainesville, all of whom played instrumental roles in seeing the bill through the House and Senate floors.
Miller, who sponsored the bill, credited local officials, like those with Northeast Georgia Health Systems [NEGHS], with bringing the need for such a bill to his attention.
"The very best ideas that we get come from people close to the problems, and that's exactly what happened here," he said. "Others brought this need to my attention, and NEGHS was instrumental in making this a reality."
Deal also gave credit to hospital and health system employees for their role in the bill's passage, pointing out that cardiac health has long been a point of emphasis in the area.
"It takes everybody to make something like this. This facility and the things that happen here, it takes all of you to make it worthwhile," Deal continued. "And, after all, even without this legislation, this has been the number one heart center in the state of Georgia for a long time."
In addition to the numerous hospital staff members on hand for the signing, several emergency responders from the area turned out to show their support.
Gainesville Fire Division Chief Keith Smith said the new designations will help streamline the decision-making process when it comes to transporting patients.
"What it tells us is the best place to take this person for the event they're having right now. It could be that a Level 3 is okay; it could be that a Level 2 is better," Smith added.
President of System Acute and Post-Acute Operations for the medical center, Louis Smith, opened the ceremony with a few remarks, and summarized the importance of the new piece of legislation.
"We are here today to really celebrate the area around, looking at cardiac care centers. We have, for a time in our state, had trauma and stroke that were designated, and now we move into a new era of cardiac care," he said.
"That is something that this institution has been known for and pioneered, related to the care of our community, and now to see a more formalized effort about how you organize around and save lives is really a truly special moment."
Following the signing, the ceremony concluded with Smith presenting the governor an automated external defibrillator for use in the state capitol.
