There’s been a lot of talk in our community about Carilion’s prices, so we’d like to examine this issue in more detail and provide some facts.

Among the topics:

• Carilion prices are lower than the state average
• Southwest Virginia’s overall healthcare costs lower than other regions
• What goes into hospital costs?
• High healthcare costs are a national problem
• What we are doing about this

Carilion Clinic’s “Heart Alert” Program

Dave Cole, who has developed architectural designs most of his life, was recently saved by a different kind of design — a protocol called “Heart Alert” that outlines steps of treatment for heart attack patients.  

Cole worked on the design and architecture of Roanoke County’s Fort Lewis Fire & Rescue Station 9, the same station that came to his aid when he suffered a heart attack in his Salem home. Station 9 is one of many local fire and rescue stations that had been trained in the program, which was designed by Carilion Clinic to diagnose and treat heart attack victims as quickly and efficiently as possible. It was this program’s design that got Cole from his home to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital’s (CRMH) catheterization lab, where he received the life-saving treatment he needed.

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