The Emergency Department at Northwest Hospital is one of the busiest treatment centers for heart patients in the Seattle area. We’re easily accessed from Interstate 5, and centrally located in the Seattle area in the Northgate neighborhood. In an emergency – especially if you think you’re having a heart attack – call 911 immediately! Don’t try to drive yourself to the hospital. Keep in mind that time is critical. About half of all heart attack victims wait two hours or longer before deciding to get help. The longer the wait, the more heart muscle damage can occur, and the higher the chances of not surviving the heart attack.

• The Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory uses state-of-the-art equipment to obtain information about the heart valves, chambers, and blood vessels. Cardiac catheterization – heart cath for short – is a procedure in which a very slender tube (catheter) is inserted into an artery and/or vein until it reaches the heart. In this way, doctors can gather highly specific information about a patient’s heart and coronary arteries.