Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside is excited to announce it is expanding its leading cardiovascular services by adding new FDA-approved technology to treat people with medication-resistant high blood pressure.
Renal (kidney) denervation is a minimally invasive procedure using ultrasound energy to interrupt overactive nerves between the heart and kidneys.
The total treatment time is typically less than a minute. The technology at St. Vincent’s Riverside also incorporates a unique cooling ablation system that circulates sterile water to help cool and protect the lining of the affected arteries during the procedure.
The ultimate goal of the procedure is to reduce and/or eliminate the need for hypertension medication.
“This is a key procedure in getting people off multiple daily medications and providing real relief,” said Dr. Samer Garas, St. Vincent’s Riverside interventional cardiologist and cardiovascular medical director. “The procedure is done quickly and provides patients better control of their blood pressure.”
More than 54 million adults are treated for high blood pressure in the U.S., and many remain above the normal blood pressure range despite lifestyle changes and various medications.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly half of all adults in Florida at least 45 years old experience hypertension.
Because there are sometimes no physical symptoms of high blood pressure, some patients with hypertension don’t realize they have it, making it one of the nation’s most prevalent silent conditions.
“We are pleased to be the first to offer this approach to the Jacksonville area,” said president and CEO of St. Vincent’s Riverside, Scott Kashman. “This is just one piece of our ongoing commitment to protecting and improving the lives of everyone across Northeast Florida.”
Patients with high blood pressure can receive even more personalized and streamlined care this year when St. Vincent’s Riverside opens a specialized hypertension clinic next month.
For more information about cardiology care at Riverside, go to healthcare.ascension.org and search Ascension Medical Group St. Vincent’s Cardiology-Riverside or call 904-388-1820.
Ascension Florida includes Ascension St. Vincent’s based in Jacksonville, Florida, and Ascension Sacred Heart based in Pensacola, Florida.
Ascension Florida operates ten hospitals and more than 200 other sites of care, employing more than 13,000 associates. Across the region, Ascension Providence, Ascension
Sacred Heart and Ascension St. Vincent’s have served North Florida for more than 165 years.
Ascension is one of the nation’s leading non-profit and Catholic health systems, with a Mission of delivering compassionate, personalized care to all with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable.
It includes approximately 134,000 associates, 35,000 affiliated providers and 140 hospitals, serving communities in 19 states and the District of Columbia.
In the fiscal year 2023, Ascension provided $2.2 billion in care of persons living in poverty and
other community benefit programs.
