Without Missing a Beat: Mike O’Callaghan Military Medical Center Advances Cardiac Care
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. – The Mike O’Callaghan Military Medical Center cardiology team is writing the playbook for advanced heart care through innovation, collaboration, and a commitment to patient-centered care. From pioneering procedures and coordinated care for veterans, to new capabilities that keep complex treatments under one roof, MOMMC is expanding access to advanced cardiac services for service members, veterans, and beneficiaries.
Making Medical History
Lt Col (Dr.) Shayef Gabasha, interventional cardiologist and MOMMC’s Chief of Cardiology, recently performed a groundbreaking procedure—the first in Nevada—marking the second time in 2026 that MOMMC’s team has achieved a statewide “first” in cardiac care.
To place a wireless pacemaker, cardiologists use a tool called a delivery sheath—a tube they insert into a vein to provide access to the heart. The pacemaker device slides through the sheath until it reaches the heart, where the cardiologist secures it in place. Typically, the femoral vein in the groin is used for this procedure. However, for some patients, the standard approach carries additional risks.
Gabasha’s patient required a pacemaker to treat irregular heartbeats that caused the heart to pause for up to five seconds at a time, resulting in dizziness and near-fainting. Due to the patient’s comorbidities, Gabasha was concerned about the safety of using the standard entry point. Navigating the groin vein can be incredibly difficult in some patients. The delivery sheath tube used to carry the pacemaker is relatively large, and Gabasha recognized that the tube size created a high risk of damaging blood vessels, increasing the likelihood of post-procedure complications.
Prioritizing patient safety, Gabasha opted to use the subclavian vein, located beneath the collarbone. This approach reduces risks associated with the standard route yet requires exceptional technical precision. The large device must be carefully steered through the shorter and highly curved subclavian vein to reach the heart. “The technique is well published but rarely used due to the unique clinical scenario,” said Gabasha. “However, I routinely access the same vein for other interventional procedures, which makes me familiar with the anatomy and gives me a strong foundation for using this approach.”
Using this alternative yet more difficult route, Gabasha and his team successfully delivered and implanted the pacemaker.
“This case directly demonstrates our innovation and focus on patient-centered care,” said Gabasha. “Clinical ingenuity can help reduce complications and ensure that challenging cases still receive advanced care tailored to their needs.”
Milestone procedures like this demonstrate that MOMMC’s team has the skills, confidence, and clinical expertise to advance cardiac care in Nevada.
“I’m proud of our team and optimistic about what we can continue to offer our patients,” said Gabasha.
Serving Those Who Served
MOMMC’s resource-sharing agreement with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) enables eligible veterans to receive specialty care at MOMMC, including advanced cardiac procedures. The strength of that partnership is especially clear in time-sensitive cardiac emergencies.
Air Force veteran Charles Ramey recently experienced the value of that partnership firsthand. After feeling lightheaded and unlike himself, Ramey went to the VA emergency department, where clinicians quickly evaluated and stabilized him.
Ramey was experiencing an ST-elevation myocardial infarction, or STEMI, a serious type of heart attack caused by a blocked artery. Recognizing the urgency of his condition, the VA care team coordinated his immediate transfer to MOMMC for higher-level cardiac care.
Gabasha met Ramey upon his arrival at MOMMC and took him directly to the cardiac catheterization laboratory. There, Gabasha and the cath lab team performed an emergency procedure to place a stent and restore blood flow to Ramey’s heart.
“Dr. Gabasha and the entire team moved quickly with precision and expertise,” Ramey said.
For Ramey, his experience demonstrated the importance of the partnership between the two health systems and their ability to provide coordinated care. Ramey made a full recovery, with no lasting effects from his medical emergency.
“The relationship between the VA and MOMMC resulted in me receiving immediate emergency care,” Ramey said. “I felt confident that I was in capable hands throughout the entire experience.”
Future Investments
Underscoring MOMMC’s clinical growth, the facility was selected as one of only four Defense Health Agency military treatment facilities to be awarded funding from the Joint Incentive Fund (JIF).
Created by Congress, the JIF is a shared funding pool between the Department of War (DoW) and the VA designed to incentivize initiatives that bridge the gap between the two healthcare systems. The JIF competitively awards funding to projects designed to maximize efficiency, enhance care quality, and expand access to specialty services.
The funding will enable MOMMC to purchase an advanced cardiac mapping system that produces three-dimensional digital models of the heart’s chambers and its electrical activity. Faulty electrical signals within the heart tissue can cause the heart to beat too fast, too slow, or irregularly. Identifying the source of faulty circuits allows a cardiologist to ablate the affected tissue, turning off the faulty “switch” and restoring a normal heartbeat.
More than a simple equipment upgrade, this system represents a meaningful expansion of clinical capability and directly supports medical readiness. According to Gabasha, supraventricular tachycardia, or SVT, occurs among service members of any age and can often be corrected through ablation, allowing patients to return to duty. For patients with atrial fibrillation, ablation can provide an estimated three-to-five years of rhythm stabilization.
Currently, service members, veterans, and beneficiaries who need cardiac ablation services must be referred to external civilian care for specialized treatments. Expanding cardiac capabilities will improve access and continuity of care for both Military Health System and VA patients by reducing external referrals. The capability is estimated to save the DoW and VA approximately a combined $2.6 million annually in external medical costs.
“These types of procedures are about 30% of the cases we see,” said Gabasha. “By expanding our capability, we are able to keep these patients under one roof so we can oversee their care from start to finish.”
Gabasha emphasized the significance of the new capability and its role in supporting a team-based approach to patient care.
“It’s the confidence I have in being able to look a patient in the eye and say, ‘I know this doctor, so I know the care you’re going to get,’” he said. “It’s the safety and security in knowing our team and knowing the level of care our patients will receive.”
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
