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Sweetwater Angiography Receives JCAHO Accreditation
Our Sweetwater team continues to make progress and is very proud of their recent JCAHO accreditation. The JCAHO accreditation is an important accomplishment because it informs our clients and community that our facility abides by strict guidelines that insure delivery of high quality healthcare as well as patient / employee safety. This accreditation is valid for 3 years before recertification is required.

The JCAHO accreditation process includes a very long list of performance guidelines covering every aspect of patient care. Our Sweetwater staff worked for over 6 months using a series of steps called "elements of performance” to make sure we met these guidelines. This effort paid off when we received the good news that our facility had no cited recommendations.

This successful accreditation was the direct result of our hardworking Sweetwater staff and our supportive home office team. Irma Cardenas, Director of Clinical Quality Assurance, handled the implementation of the all JCAHO guidelines. Our Lab and Infection Control Director, Rosa Villanueva, directed the implementation of performance standards for the laboratory and infection control portion of JCAHO. Ron Derrick was responsible for the implementation on ongoing compliance with our Environment of Care guidelines.

Becoming accredited is indeed a painstaking task, but the rewards that come with the accomplishment far outweigh the difficulties. The JCAHO surveyor, a highly respected physician, was very impressed with how well our staff worked together, and he even took some of our forms to use as examples for other facilities going through the accreditation process.

Tyler Center Opens
Since opening their doors this July they are right on track with 20 cases in July, 90 cases in August, 98 cases in September and will break 100 cases in October. Way to go Tyler team!

Gulf Coast Cath Lab Opens
We are also excited about the November 2009 opening of the Gulf Coast Cath Lab, our newest facility, located in Port Arthur, Texas. Tricia Chapa is our Business Office Manager, Brandon Cropper, RN, is our Clinical Supervisor and Lisa Scott is our Clinical Manager. They will see their first case on November 30th and we are thrilled to have such tremendous leadership and experience.

Travis Center Celebrates 5th Anniversary
Although it only feels like yesterday, Travis Center Angiography celebrated its 5th year in business earlier this year. Anthony Moreno, Tracy Parks and Victoria Cawley mark 5 years of service with NCPLP.

After 5 years in its old facility the Travis team has finally moved to their new location at 2130 West Holcombe. TCA’s new home includes upgraded equipment, two labs instead of one, eleven recovery beds, a doctor’s lounge, more storage and a larger waiting room. TCA’s expanded capacity will handle an additional 300 cases per year and will allow us to provide patients with extended recovery time

Stone Oak Supports Community’s “Legs for Life” Program
Community service is not something a new business start-up would normally add to its already overwhelming first year’s business plan. NCP’s Stone Oak Center team knew however that their participation in the Legs for Life program would have long lasting benefits for individuals in their local community as well as NCP. Legs for Life is a national public education/community wellness program that provides free screenings for persons who might be at risk for Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD). PAD affects an estimated 8 to 10 million people in the U.S. placing them at greater risk for heart attack, stroke and loss of limbs. Early detection is the first step in identifying patients at risk, giving them and their care-providers information crucial to successful diagnosis and treatment. And that’s exactly what NCP’s Stone Oak team did last September, screening 174 patients for PAD.

Of those screened, 51 (30%) were found to have either peripheral vascular or cardiovascular issues.
Charlotte Merritt, Stone Oak’s Clinical Director, said the screening procedure measures something called “Ankle Brachial Index” (ABI), a ratio that compares both arm and ankle blood pressures. Charlotte said “the procedure is both easy and painless, using a blood pressure cuff and a Doppler device to obtain both blood pressures . . . if the ankle pressure is less than the arm pressures you most likely have a narrow or blocked artery.” The screening process also includes a review with a NCP physician to gather data on the patient’s symptoms/risk factors for coronary artery disease. The ABI results and data are then given to the patient, mailed to the patient’s primary care physician, and kept on file at NCP. It is not uncommon for Legs for Life patients to select NCP for additional cardiovascular follow-up.
Legs for Life was founded by the Society of Interventional Radiology in 1997 in collaboration with the American Diabetes Association, American Radiological Nurses Association, the Council on Cardiovascular Radiology, the American Heart Association

El Paso Cardiac and Endovascular Center Opens
For many non-retail businesses late December can be a festive, relaxed time associated with the holiday scene. Not so however for NCP’s newest cardiac cath lab located in El Paso Texas. They opened their doors for business on December 18 and have been going non-stop ever since, handling 45 cases in less than 6 weeks.

NCP’s new lab is located about two miles west of the University of Texas (UTEP) campus, making it accessible to residents of both El Paso and southern New Mexico. As El Paso’s first cardiac outpatient facility it gives cardiologists and patients a welcome alternative to a crowded, hard to access hospital environment. The 5,000 square foot facility has 1 lab, a 7-bed admitting / outpatient area and enough space for a second lab when the time comes for expansion.

Our El Paso lab partners are El Paso Cardiology Associates, P.A. and its team of five physicians including Doctors Vipool Patel, David Dobrin, M. Laiq Raja, Michael T. Traylor, Michael Gutierrez, and Practice Administrator Larry Fisher. Two additional cardiology groups, Cardiology Care Consultants and El Paso Heart Clinic, also have privileges.
NCP’s El Paso clinical team is led by Jesse Jaime - Clinical Director and Yolanda Lespron – Clinical Manager. The clinical staff includes three R.N.s, Alma Rosencrans, Bryan Baca and Teresa Roth and one R.T., Mike Alvarado. This clinical team has 80 years of clinical experience with 63 of those years in cardiac cath labs. Our Business Office Manager is Dora Leos, assisted by Zulema Gonzalez – Scheduling Specialist and Evangelina Ramirez – Certified Coding Specialist.