By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
A new cardiac catheterization lab specializing in treating heart disease was unveiled at
Val Verde Regional Medical Center on Friday.
More than 70 people attended the ribbon cutting ceremony opening the new cath lab at
VVRMC, 801 N. Bedell Ave., which included a public tour of the
Catheterization Lab at the Val Verde Regional Medical Center (VVRMC) on Friday morning.
Jorge Jurado, VVRMC chief executive officer, gave thanks to the hospital staff involved in
setting up the lab within a month-and-a-half. He said the lab will help expand on delivering
health care to the patients in the community without traveling to another city. (Photo by Louis
Zylka)
new facility.
The new cath lab will include a team of skilled physicians and staff members trained to perform
crucial cardiac procedures with safety and care. The staff will also have access to the advanced
Trinias Opera C-Arm device designed to produce real-time x-ray images of a patient’s body.
Jorge Jurado, VVRMC chief executive officer, started the event by saying the opening of the
new lab is a huge accomplishment for the hospital. He thanked the staff at VVRMC, the VVRMC
board of directors, local leaders and community partners for helping the hospital grow.
“This upgrade is more than just new technology. It represents greater access to health care,
faster diagnosis and more advanced treatments for our patients.
With this state-of-the-art
equipment, we enhance our ability to provide minimally invasive procedures and improve patient
outcomes without the need to travel hours away,” Jurado said.
inside VVRMC’s new cardiac catheterization lab next to the new C-Arm device designed for
recording and displaying x-ray images. The new cath lab was opened Friday. Ballard said she
was happy the week-long training for the lab went smoothly in preparation for the ribbon cutting.
(Photo by Louis Zylka)
Dr. Julio Otazo spoke next and thanked all the people who attended the ribbon cutting while
also mentioning how the new lab was created “for the patients.”
Dr. Stephen Korte spoke next and talked about his experiences working in various hospitals and
said the new cath lab is “equal to or better” than equipment in the labs he has seen in the past.
Korte said the new cath lab will be a tool to recruit more health care providers to the area in the future.
Michelle Ballard, manager of the cath lab, was the next to speak and said the hospital staff
trained all week to get the lab ready and operational. She said the clinic has “an amazing cath
lab team,” along with Otazo and Korte, who both helped with heart cath cases during the week
while the lab was still reaching completion.
Ballard introduced Patrick Melancon, a VVRMC patient, and his wife, Pam Melancon, to share
their encouraging words about VVRMC and the help they received when Patrick had a triple
bypass procedure. Patrick thanked the team for helping him when they were operating in the
hospital’s previous cath lab.
Hospital staff and board members posed for a picture before officially cutting the ribbon to the
cath lab. Afterward, Ballard and Laura Souba, a registered nurse, gave a tour of the lab,
including the area where patients are treated and looked after before and after their
procedures are done, and the room where the C-Arm device is stationed.
