For more than ninety years, Woodland Heights Medical Center (WHMC) has been serving the East Texas region. Our hospital was the first healthcare facility in Lufkin, and we’ve been the first to bring many of the tremendous medical advancements in cardiac care to East Texas. Recognized as a leader in cardiac care, The Heart Center draws upon the strength of its entire cardiac care team—physicians, nurses, technicians, and support staff—to deliver high-quality care that emphasizes the needs of patients and their families. Our history speaks for itself! We were the first in deep East Texas to successfully perform many cardiac procedures, including: Cardiac catheterization, Open heart surgery, Balloon angioplasty, Drug-eluting stent, Brachytherapy, installation of an internal cardiac defibrillator and the installation of a permanent biventricular pacemaker. Woodland Heights also was the first to perform the plaque excision procedure. Woodland Heights has been a major catalyst in shaping the evolution and growth of Lufkin’s acclaimed medical community by building a national reputation as a heart care provider.

Experienced Team Experienced and highly trained cardiovascular surgeons and cardiologists rate Woodland Heights as one of the best facilities in which to work because we combine the most advanced medical technology available with a staff of well-trained and caring nurses and technologists. Our heart care team is specially trained and devoted to heart care. The veteran staff is specifically trained in open-heart surgery and critical care nursing. Plus staff members in supporting departments receive additional training to ensure heart patients’ specific needs are. Heart Disease is the biggest health risk Americans face today. If you don’t have heart disease now, you can help prevent it. If you’ve already been diagnosed with heart disease, you can keep it from getting worse.

Woodland Heights Unveils Another First in Heart Care

Woodland Heights Medical Center recently announced another East Texas “first” in heart care. This morning the first implantation of the Kronos LV-T implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) was performed at the Lufkin facility by Dr. Vic Mangla, a Cardiologist with the Heart Institute of East Texas.

According to Dr. Mangla, this modern technology is a wireless heart failure monitor that continuously tracks and monitors the status of heart failure patients. Six proven variables (mean heart rate, mean heart rate at rest, patient activity, ventricular ectopy, percentage of CRT, and arterial arrhythmias) are automatically tracked and trended daily to give the physician insight into the patient’s improvement or even impending decompensation - before they end up in the emergency room. Read the press release.

Technology - We Have the Most Advanced Available

Our highly skilled cardiac team provides a comprehensive approach to cardiovascular care that includes diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and prevention.

We have the only digital bi-plane catheterization lab in deep East Texas. With this new technology,
physicians receive high-quality, well-defined cardiac and vascular images. This technology enables the images to be burned to a CD and also emailed to
physicians. We also have DICOM archiving, which allows images to be stored for years.

The catheterization lab holding area is equipped with the same technology as the ICU and Step Down Care, which ensures patients receive the same level of care without having to move from the cath lab area.

The First Plaque Excision in East Texas is performed at Woodland Heights Medical Center

Dr. Robert Hallett recently preformed the new plaque excision procedure which removed the offending clog of plaque completely from the body, so that the health benefits are realized almost immediately.

Lance Jones, CEO of Woodland Heights Medical Center, said he was proud that his facility was home to the first-ever plaque excision performed in Lufkin.

"As a hospital on the leading edge of cardiac care, it's exciting for us to add this procedure to our lineup. The great reputation Woodland Heights already enjoys is just getting better," Jones said.

"We think this is an outstanding day for Lufkin and for East Texas, and of course we're glad to be a part of it."

Services in the Heart Center