OhioHealth Marion General Hospital adds Specialist, Resources to Expand Cardiology Services
Dr. Ken Lee brings sophisticated arrhythmia treatments to local community
OhioHealth Marion General Hospital recently expanded its cardiovascular service offerings with the addition of Ken Lee, MD, a specialist in heart rhythm disturbances.
Dr. Lee’s expertise and training coupled with additional technological resources enables the community hospital to offer procedures in electrophysiology that typically are found at larger urban hospitals such as OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital and OhioHealth Grant Medical Center in Columbus.
Heart procedures new to Marion General “are a sign of tremendous growth within the OhioHealth system and keeps us at the cutting edge of cardiovascular advances,” Dr. Lee said. “Traditionally, it has been unusual to have these sophisticated services at community hospitals.”
Marion General recently became the first hospital in the Midwest to implant a new device synchronizing heart beats of heart failure patients.
Heart failure is a syndrome associated with debilitating symptoms and significant functional limitations. It is the most common reason for hospital admissions among the elderly and imposes an unyielding, economic burden on our healthcare system. Cardiac resynchronization therapy remains a very important modality in the management of patients with chronic heart failure. Placement of these state-of-the-art devices does have its challenges. The latest technology, offered by Medtronic and approved in August by the Food and Drug Administration, is an advanced pacing system that allows us to overcome these challenges more effectively and provide cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).
“It’s a tremendous advance that allows us to deliver more effective CRT and minimize patient discomfort,” Dr. Lee said. “The fact that Marion General was chosen by the manufacturer Medtronic to introduce this latest technology to the Midwest demonstrates the investment OhioHealth has made in our hospital to improve and expand cardiovascular services right here at home.”
Marion General also raised its level of care recently with the addition of catheter ablation to treat atrial fibrillation. This minimally invasive procedure uses a heat-emitting catheter to destroy tiny areas of the heart that are firing off abnormal electrical impulses causing abnormal rhythms.
This is the first time catheter ablation to treat atrial fibrillation has been offered at Marion General. “OhioHealth recognized the demand for this technology and responded accordingly,” Dr. Lee said. “Patients were not happy having to drive long distances for these services, and our referring physicians have expressed a significant interest to have these services be available right here in Marion.” The hospital acquired an advanced cardiac ultrasound system to support the procedure.
Dr. Lee is a 1998 graduate of Cornell University Medical College. He completed his residency in 2001 at University of Minnesota Hospital and served a fellowship in 2007 at the University of California at San Francisco. He is board certified in internal medicine with specialties in cardiovascular disease and cardiac electrophysiology.
“For us to add these services is a tremendous convenience for our patients and a real asset for the community,” Lee said. “The community has always needed this technology, now it has the expertise and resources to deliver it.”
