Courtesy photo Cardiopulmonary Services Manager at OSF St. Francis Hospital Paul Capodilupo, left, explains the new Holter heart monitor to patient Josh Eagle during a recent appointment.

ESCANABA — OSF HealthCare St. Francis Hospital & Medical Group has purchased new heart-monitoring technology to detect abnormal heart rhythms.

According to the hospital, the Holter heart monitoring system is the most advanced cardiac monitoring technology currently available. It was purchased with the help of a donation by Greg and Linda Yagodzinski.

“We are grateful to Greg and Linda for their thoughtful gift that helped us bring this new technology to our community to benefit those we serve,” said Dave Lord, president, OSF St. Francis Hospital & Medical Group.

The Holter system includes small, wearable devices that track a person’s natural heart rhythms and identify abnormal rhythms, known as “arrhythmias,” some of which may be life threatening.

“Our family has used the heart monitors in the past so we know the importance of quick and accurate results,” Greg said. “We are very grateful for having such a high quality hospital in our community.”

Paul Capodilupo, manager of Cardiopulmonary Services at OSF St. Francis, noted the addition of the Holter system expands the number of monitors at OSF from eight to 12, allowing the hospital to keep up with demand for same-day appointments. The system can also record rhythms for longer stretches of time, increasing the likelihood of recording an arrhythmia.

“We now have the capability to monitor patients for up to seven days, whereas our previous system only recorded up to 48 hours,” said Capodilupo. “The new units are also smaller and more comfortable for patients to wear.”

Additionally, Capodilupo noted that unlike many health systems that send data to a third party for report creation, respiratory therapists at OSF have achieved specialized training to create reports internally, resulting in greater efficiencies and a faster turn-around time for patient results.

“Particularly in instances where a recorded arrhythmia may be life threatening, the quicker we are able to generate a report for physicians, the more quickly they can create a care plan for the patient,” he said.