The Battle Over Cardiac Care in West Virginia

State health care regulations have left it to Gov. Joe Manchin to decide by Friday whether to allow West Virginia's smaller hospitals to offer more cardiac care, as WSAZ-TV and others explain.

"Currently, only hospitals with on-site cardiac surgery can perform an angioplasty, a procedure that clears blood flow to the heart. Smaller hospitals want the surgery option," WSAZ reports, adding that in advance of Friday's deadline, "both sides have launched emotional ads in newspapers throughout the state."

The Register-Herald of Beckley reports that "while the path is open for most other geographical areas in the state to be served by these suggested updates, there is a clear fear among many in this region’s medical and health services community that Southern West Virginia is being left behind."

The Intelligencer of Wheeling includes Weirton Medical Center among the hospitals seeking the change. "WMC has participated in a pilot program for five years, allowing it to perform angioplasties without being approved for full cardiac surgery," that paper reported. "Out of nearly 900 procedures performed during the past five years, just one ended up having to go to a full cardiac hospital."