A state agency approved changes Wednesday that will allow medium-size hospitals to offer life-saving heart procedures without an on-site cardiac surgery unit.

The new regulations would allow cardiologists at community hospitals to perform angioplasties and other procedures to unclog blocked and narrowed arteries to the heart.

As many as seven West Virginia hospitals, including Thomas Memorial Hospital in South Charleston, are expected to seek approval to begin performing life-saving cardiac catheterizations.

"In the end, we decided we needed to do what was right for patient care," said Sonia Chambers, chairwoman of the West Virginia Health Care Authority. "The literature is showing this can be done safely."

The authority's three-member board unanimously approved the changes during a Wednesday meeting in Charleston.

The agency has grappled with the new standards during the past six years.

Larger hospitals, including Charleston Area Medical Center, opposed the change, saying the standards would put patients in danger and drive up health-care costs. Only six hospitals in the state offer open-heart surgery.

In 2002, the authority approved three demonstration sites - Saint Francis Hospital in Charleston, Weirton Medical Center and United Hospital Center in Clarksburg - to see whether heart catheterizations could be done without surgery backup. A consultant hired to evaluate the programs gave them high marks.

"We compare favorably in a national comparison, and we're [better] in some cases," said Dale Stepp, the agency's certificate of need director. "They've performed this successfully for several years."

A state agency approved changes Wednesday that will allow medium-size hospitals to offer life-saving heart procedures without an on-site cardiac surgery unit.

The new regulations would allow cardiologists at community hospitals to perform angioplasties and other procedures to unclog blocked and narrowed arteries to the heart.

As many as seven West Virginia hospitals, including Thomas Memorial Hospital in South Charleston, are expected to seek approval to begin performing life-saving cardiac catheterizations.

"In the end, we decided we needed to do what was right for patient care," said Sonia Chambers, chairwoman of the West Virginia Health Care Authority. "The literature is showing this can be done safely."

The authority's three-member board unanimously approved the changes during a Wednesday meeting in Charleston.

The agency has grappled with the new standards during the past six years.

Larger hospitals, including Charleston Area Medical Center, opposed the change, saying the standards would put patients in danger and drive up health-care costs. Only six hospitals in the state offer open-heart surgery.

In 2002, the authority approved three demonstration sites - Saint Francis Hospital in Charleston, Weirton Medical Center and United Hospital Center in Clarksburg - to see whether heart catheterizations could be done without surgery backup. A consultant hired to evaluate the programs gave them high marks.

"We compare favorably in a national comparison, and we're [better] in some cases," said Dale Stepp, the agency's certificate of need director. "They've performed this successfully for several years."

The pilot hospitals are expected to request the state's permission to perform the cardiac procedures on a permanent basis.

The Health Care Authority sent the new catheterization standards to Gov. Joe Manchin's office Wednesday. The governor has 30 days to decide whether to sign off on the regulations.

The standards come with stipulations. Hospitals that want to offer emergency catheterizations must perform at least 36 a year. And those that want to offer elective cardiac procedures must do at least 200 per year.

The proposed standards became contentious because heart catheterizations are one of the few profit-making services that hospitals provide.

Executives at large hospitals have said their facilities have invested millions of dollars in catheterization labs to diagnose and treat heart disease. They predict they'll lose patients to nearby hospitals that duplicate services.

They also said smaller hospitals wouldn't have enough patients to maintain high-quality programs.

Chambers said her agency examined those concerns.

"We thought long and hard about this and listened to all parties," she said. "We felt it was reasonable to make it easier for the hospitals to be able to offer this life-saving service. That's what's right for the patients and for the citizens of West Virginia."

Reach Eric Eyre at erice...@wvgazette.com or call 348-4869.