At Saint Francis Medical Center, excellent heart care is close at hand. Together with primary care physicians and the cardiologists of the Nebraska Heart Institute, Saint Francis can offer sophisticated cardiology services to treat heart emergencies and manage serious conditions such as chronic heart failure.

Utilizing some of the latest technology available, Saint Francis Cardiology Services can provide simple tests such as an EKG to the more complex procedures such as a cardiac catheterization.  And Cardiac Rehabilitation can help you recover from a heart illness and improve your health and quality of life.

Aquapheresis
Saint Francis was one of the first hospitals in central Nebraska to utilize Aquapheresis™ Therapy, also known as ultrafiltration therapy, which is designed to safely and effectively removes excess salt and water from the bodies of patients who are suffering from fluid overload due to heart failure.

Health care providers may prescribe a low salt diet, fluid restriction or other therapies to help patients reduce fluid – such as a water pill, or diuretic, given orally or intravenously. However, these treatments do not always work effectively resulting in a need for alternative therapy – such as Aquapheresis™.

Theraputic Hypothermia
Therapeutic hypothermia is a leading-edge treatment that can improve the chances of full recovery for a patient suffering cardiac arrest. Saint Francis is the only hospital in central Nebraska to offer therapeutic hypothermia treatment to its patients.

This treatment involves placing the patient into a medically-induced coma and lowering the core body temperature. Through such cooling, doctors can prevent the long-term brain damage that usually results as the brain recovers from a short period without oxygen.