MURRAY — Hybridization remains a popular buzzword in the healthcare world with the integration of medical procedures and technologies, and it’s a term that will soon become vernacular at a local community hospital.

Citing an aging baby boomer generation and an ongoing goal of increasing medical options to local patients, Murray-Calloway County Hospital announced plans for a state-of-the-art hybrid operating room that combines the best of imaging technology with the necessary tools of the surgical trade.

“The hybrid is going to offer us the assurance that we have the facilities that we need to be able to move from an endovascular procedure to an open procedure comfortably and without jeopardizing the patient,” said Jill Asher, director of perioperative services.

“We specialize in the community and we’re just trying to provide services that will keep patients here and close to home where their families can come and stay, and take care of them.”

The hybrid room will be used for routine diagnostic heart catheterizations, used to identify potential cardiac problems, and in a sterile setting that allows surgeons the ability to operate.

Jaime Lax, cath lab coordinator, said the hybrid room will replace the current 700-foot cath lab and will measure about 1,000 squre feet  to allow for a new ceiling-mounted C-arm imaging machine. The images produced by the device will also allow for precise procedures such as pacemaker insertions or intravenous cath insertions.

“Our C-arm now is limited in the images it can take because of the space issue,” Lax said. “The new one will be able to completely take all the images we need it to.”

John Rebuck, director of radiology, said the large baby boomer community in the Murray area helped spur the decision to bring the hybrid room to the hospital.

The room will also aid other specialists at the hospital. Rebuck highlighted procedures like bronchoscopies or pain management surgeries.

“We can only go forward from this point onwards and it’s an awesome thing for this community,” he said.

The hybrid room remains in the planning stage while the hospital attempts to secure funding, but the Murray-Calloway Endowment for Healthcare has already created an account and the “Investing in our Community” campaign to help bring the project to fruition.

Keith Travis, vice president of institutional development, said construction for the hybrid room — which includes expanding space inside the surgical department — is projected to cost about $1.9 million, while the equipment for the room will cost another $1.3 million. Construction is anticipated to take 15 months once funding is acquired.

Travis said when recruiting professional specialists to Murray-Calloway it’s a goal to keep the physicians at the technical level they were used to in training.

Already staffed with board certified cardiologists, Dr. Nathaniel Dittoe and Dr. Ralph Milsaps, and board certified vascular surgeon, Dr. Craig Dowdy, the hospital has the staff to best use the hybrid room, Travis said.

“We have that skill set and we really feel compelled to support them, keep them challenged and provide this service to the community,” he said.

With the completion of the hybrid operating room, Murray-Calloway will become the third hospital in the region to offer the advanced cath lab. Lourdes hospital completed the region’s first two hybrid suites in April, and Western Baptist Hospital opened the region’s largest hybrid room in November.

For more information or to inquire about donations, call 270-762-190 or 270-227-0253.

Call Will Pinkston, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8676 or follow @WCPinkston on Twitter.