Surgeons at St. Francis Medical center performed about 100 open heart surgeries in the first year the hospital opened its cardiovascular treatment center and expect to perform more this year.

The Heart Institute at St. Francis is in an expanded wing of the hospital and includes a newly completed cardiovascular services center.

The center started seeing patients May 18. An open house will be held June 28.

"We've exceeded our first-year projections for heart surgeries," said St. Francis Administrator John Fidler. "We see (open heart surgeries) increasing to 150 this year."

St. Francis began performing open heart surgeries in April 1991. Southeast Missouri Hospital has been performing cardiovascular surgeries since 1984 and performed 252 open heart surgeries in 1991.

Fidler said opening The Heart Institute is an attempt to "make Cape Girardeau the center for healthy hearts."

Led by heart surgeon Dr. Louis Ostrow, the center has seven additional cardiovascular surgeons. The cardiovascular services center was constructed at a cost of just under $600,000, according to Rosemary Bishop, director of cardiovascular services at St. Francis.

Employees of the hospital were able to inspect the new cardiovascular services wing Thursday. The 3,600-square-foot addition to the hospital is where most non-invasive testing prior to diagnosis is done.

Many of the tests and procedures were already being done at the hospital, but in different areas. The new wing means all heart patients will be treated in the same area of the hospital, Bishop said.

"Most of the patients come here because they have some type of symptom or non-specific heart problem," Bishop said. "Most of them are referred here by their doctors as a first step to determining what the problem is."

Fidler said educational programs are also offered at the cardiovascular services center in an effort to help prevent heart problems.

Fidler said construction of the cardiovascular services center and expansion into heart surgeries at the hospital was warranted by a rise in cardiovascular disease among the general population.

The hospital's cardiovascular center is associated with the Glen Crosby Group of heart surgeons based at two Memphis hospitals, Baptist Central and Baptist East.

"By virtue of that affiliation we really were not a start-up program," Fidler said.

Cardiovascular disease is one of the nation's top health care problems, and about a third of those afflicted with heart problems die as a result.

"The good news with that disease is about half those deaths can be prevented with early detection," Fidler said.

Bishop said the newly constructed center is meant to have the atmosphere of a doctor's office instead of a hospital. A relaxing atmosphere is important so that patients feel at ease during non-invasive procedures, she said.

Non-invasive means no needles are used in the tests. Some of the tests are "stress tests" during which the patient is monitored during simple exercises like walking and riding a stationary bicycle.

Located on the northwest side of the hospital, the cardiovascular services center includes a reception area, physician consultation areas and several laboratories.