Jamshedpur: Tata Main Hospital (TMH) has strengthened and expanded its cardiac care services with the inauguration of a new Heart Care Unit, built around a state-of-the-art Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratory.

D B Sundara Ramam, Vice President, Corporate Services, Tata Steel, inaugurated the new unit that brings cardiac care services together under one roof on Thursday, September 17.  On the occasion, Sanjeev Kumar Choudhary, President, Tata Workers' Union was present as the Guest of Honour.   

The upgraded unit brings cardiac care together in one place. Every bed in the renewed unit is equipped to function as a critical care bed, enabling continuous monitoring and ventilation to patient wherever required. This enables patients who deteriorate to be escalated and managed on the spot, rather than being shifted elsewhere in the hospital.

The upgraded unit strengthens the hospital’s 24×7 primary angioplasty and emergency cardiac care capabilities. The facilities are open to the general public as well as Tata Steel employees, benefiting patients from Jamshedpur, Kolhan and neighbouring areas.

“This is an upgradation of cardiac services, not just a new laboratory. Cardiac care was earlier spread across several wards, it is now in one unit where every bed is monitored and ventilator-ready, with a state-of-the-art Cath-lab alongside,” said Dr Vinita Singh, General Manager, Medical Services, TMH.

“Behind the machines and procedures is a dedicated team. Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. When we started in 2015, we were a small team with one Cath-lab. To see how far we have come is immensely satisfying,” said Dr Mandar Mahavir Shah, Chief Consultant and Head of the Department of Cardiac Sciences.

The department’s expansion also points towards the next phase of cardiac care at TMH. Future plans include paediatric cardiology, transcatheter valve procedures such as TAVR and TEER for patients at high surgical risk, 3D mapping for complex rhythm disorders, and a cardiothoracic and vascular surgery (CTVS) programme.

The upgrade comes more than a decade after TMH began its Cardiac Intervention Programme in March 2015. What started as a single Cath-lab with one interventional cardiologist has grown into the Department of Cardiac Sciences, with four cardiologists supported by cardiac nurses, Cath-lab technicians and critical care colleagues. Since its inception, the department has performed more than 22,000 cardiac procedures till date. Angioplasties have grown from 245 in the year 2015 to 934 in 2025.  Angiographies, pacemaker implants and electrophysiology procedures are also rising steadily. This growth reflects the expansion of both, the department’s clinical capabilities and the range of cardiac interventions available at TMH. 

TMH has introduced several cardiac care capabilities that were firsts in Jharkhand. Within six months of starting, TMH had become the first centre in Jharkhand to establish a dedicated electrophysiology laboratory. It later introduced the state’s first leadless pacemaker—a capsule-sized device placed inside the heart without wires—and left bundle branch pacing, which uses the heart’s own conduction system.

In 2019, TMH became the first centre in the state to have high-definition intravascular imaging and pressure-wire assessment available in-house. In 2024, it added intravascular lithotripsy, which uses shockwaves to crack calcium in heavily blocked arteries. TMH currently performs the highest number of rotablation procedures in Jharkhand.

Alongside its clinical work, the department has also strengthened its academic capabilities with the National Board-accredited DrNB super-speciality programme with two seats a year.