By: Elizabeth Corridan

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) – Baystate Medical Center's "Hospital of the Future" will showcase a Heart and Vascular Center that will boost the current model of collaborative care to a whole new level. 

Chief of Cardiology Dr. Aaron Kugelmass and his team are in the process of selecting equipment and designing a space that will allow heart surgeons, vascular surgeons, cardiologists and radiologists to work in the same operating room.  Patients will be treated in the room that best suits their needs.  "This time around the hierarchy is going to be designed around the patient," says Dr. Kugelmass.

That philosophy is one that is shared by the hospital's entire heart and vascular team. Dr. Kugelmass says, "What we are trying to do is take this one step further and really bring cardiac surgeons and cardiologists, vascular surgeons and radiologists together to provide total collaborative care focused around the patient."

The model of cardiovascular care and ambition to grow are being recognized nationally.  Most recently, Baystate's Heart and Vascular Program was named in the Thomson Reuters Study 100 Top Hospitals: Cardiovascular Benchmarks. Dr. Kugelmass says, "This place stands out like a star."

While the accolades are always nice, at the end of the day, the focus remains the same.  "It's about the patient, rather than about the department."