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Open Heart Campaign—Fact Sheet

A community need:

  • Gwinnett County is the most populous county in the United States without an open heart program.
  • Gwinnett County's total population ranks second only to Fulton County in Georgia, but Fulton County—along with  DeKalb, Cobb and Hall counties—all have open heart programs.
  • Historically, Gwinnett has been among the top counties in the U.S. for population growth. Between 2000 and 2009, the population grew by 37% or almost 220,000 residents.
  • Gwinnett’s population is estimated at more than 808,000, accounting for more than 8 percent of the state’s population.

A medical need:

  • There were more than 536 open heart surgery cases performed on Gwinnett residents in 2009.  Gwinnett County residents generate more open heart surgeries than any other county's residents besides Fulton County.
  • With these numbers, and a rapidly increasing population, Gwinnett can support its own open heart program.

A need for better accessibility:

  • The open heart facilities that GMC must rely on in absence of its own program are not effectively accessible to the residents of Gwinnett and the surrounding communities we serve.
  • The nearest open heart facility is 24 miles from GMC with driving times in excess of 30 minutes even under ideal conditions.
  • Most routes to the nearest facility require travel onto three major arteries with well-known congestion—Hwy 316, I-85 and I-285.
  • The Atlanta metro area ranks third among 439 urban areas nationally in terms of the number of annual delayed hours per traveler according to the 2009 Texas Transportation Institute's Urban Mobility Report.
  • Traffic-related delays directly contribute to delays in patient transport and treatment.

An Emergency Department in need:

  • GMC’s Emergency Department is among the top four busiest in the state, with approximately 100,000 visits annually.  Each of the other top three have open heart facilities within their hospitals.
  • More than 8,000 patients annually are treated in GMC’s Lawrenceville Emergency Department for cardiac-related issues.
  • More than 20 percent of patients with cardiac-related symptoms are admitted to GMC due to the severity of their condition.
  • Given existing travel distance to an open heart facility combined with often heavy traffic volume, transport to other facilities is not always a viable option for open heart surgery or angioplasty patients.