Hospital Care
Why do I have to stay in the hospital and for how long?
Individuals are admitted as inpatients at the Inova Heart
and Vascular Institute for a variety of reasons. It may be
to diagnose (or rule out) a heart problem or perform a treatment
f
or
heart disease. Whatever the problem may be, the overall goal
is to optimize the overall function of the heart. All four
hospitals at Inova have coronary care and progressive coronary
care units (a specialized unit where cardiac patients stay
after they have been moved from coronary care). In addition,
Inova Fairfax and Inova Alexandria Hospitals have intensive
care units for patients who have had open heart surgery, and
another unit (cardiac step-down unit) where cardiac surgery
patients spend the remainder of their stay.
Hospital stays vary, depending on the individual circumstances and diagnosis. Individuals who have heart attacks can expect to stay in the hospital anywhere from three to seven days. Individuals who have cardiac surgery may stay the same length of time. However, the stay may be longer for a variety of reasons, such as degree of injury to the heart, other underlying health problems, or the need for additional treatment during the hospital stay (for example, you arrived at the emergency department having a heart attack and ended up needing bypass surgery before discharge).
Whatever the reason for your hospital stay, the Inova Heart and Vascular Institute has a specially trained team of health care professionals who are committed to providing quality patient care.
