This year our proceeds from the Plateau Classic Golf Tournament will be benefitting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Cardiology Center & Aflac Cancer & Blood Disorders Center. As a company looking to always move forward, Plateau is in support of the new innovations and technologies that physicians at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta are expanding on in order to see the heart in an entirely new way.
The Heart Center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta serves over 1,800 unique patients, performs over 900 surgeries, 1,200 catheterization/electrophysiology procedures, and sees over 47,000 outpatient clinic visits every year, spanning prenatal through adult patients, making it one of the busiest programs in the country. Behind each of those numbers a child, a family, and a team working to achieve the best possible outcome.
One of those families is part of our own Plateau family.
Dr. Glen Iannucci and physicians/care teams at Children’s played an instrumental role in the heart surgery journey of Ward Davis, the son of Joe Davis, Senior Vice President of Operations at Plateau. During an experience that changed the lives of his entire family, the expertise, compassion, and advanced cardiac care provided by the team at Children’s gave them something invaluable: hope for the future.
Now, Children’s is taking another step forward through its vision for Advanced Cardiac Procedural Planning. This vision will utilize three techniques to improve our outcomes and take full advantage of new technology in the field.
At the center of this advancement is 3D BIM modeling technology, which is a virtual model that will allow for in-depth understanding of unique heart intricacies by creating a patient-specific structural framework and model for understanding complex anatomy before surgery.
For children with complex congenital heart disease– who require complex rerouting of blood flow having an enhanced understanding of a patient’s individual anatomy has the power to give surgical teams another valuable tool as they prepare for challenging procedures.
This program will enhance the use of 3D Echocardiograms. 3D Echo technology provides better functional, dynamic imaging of cardiac structures not feasible with 2D echocardiography, which will improve surgical planning. Additionally, the money raised will fund the development of Intraoperative Electrophysiology Mapping. This will provide specialized equipment that can be used during an open heart surgery to map the electrical system of the heart. This allows the surgeon to identify safe landing zones for suture placement and reduce the risk of injury to the heart conduction system thereby preventing the need for a pacemaker.
At Plateau Excavation, funding these technologies has the potential to reduce major surgical complications, improve surgical safety and long-term outcomes, enhance quality of life for children with complex congenital heart disease, and further position Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta as a leader in cutting-edge cardiac care.
We have seen that impact within our own Plateau family. We know what the team at Children’s and Dr. Glen Iannucci has meant to one of our employees and his family throughout his son’s heart transplant journey. Their story puts a face to the thousands of children who depend on the Heart Center every year and reminds us why continued investment in innovative technology is so important.
At Plateau, we often talk about building for the future. Usually, that means the communities, infrastructure and projects our teams help bring to life across the Southeast. But building for the future can mean something much greater, too.
By supporting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the advancement of cardiac procedural planning technology, we have an opportunity to invest in a future where physicians have even greater tools to prepare for complex procedures—and where more children and families can look ahead with hope.
It’s also a reflection of the core values that guide Plateau every day: People. Quality. Innovation.
People—supporting the children, families and care teams at the heart of this work.
Quality—helping provide physicians with advanced tools to continue delivering exceptional cardiac care.
Innovation—investing in technology that is changing the way complex procedures are understood, planned and performed.
Whether we are building the infrastructure of tomorrow or investing in technology that can help change a child’s future, those values remain at the center of who we are.