Heart and vascular diseases affect more than 71 million Americans and are the leading causes of non-accidental deaths among Alabamians. Redoubling its historically preeminent role in striking at these killer diseases, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is today formally dedicating the state's best-equipped, most comprehensive facility for the diagnosis and nonoperative treatment of heart and vascular disease and other conditions. The new 55,000-square-foot UAB Heart and Vascular Center, a $33 million facility, occupies nearly an entire floor of UAB Hospital, features 13 state-of-the-art procedural labs, including labs for pediatric cardiology patients, and 26 private rooms for post procedure recovery. In addition, room for future growth is designed into the area. "The UAB Heart and Vascular Center represents a new era in heart and vascular care for Alabama residents," said Robert Bourge, M.D., director of the UAB Division of Cardiovascular Disease and center co-director. "This facility, with its highly advanced technology, places UAB among the finest centers anywhere for minimally invasive treatment of diseases of the heart, aorta, liver and other organs. Operationally, we have moved from four separate buildings into one comprehensive unit. From a patient perspective, not only do we have the best cath lab in the state and one of the top 10 cardiovascular medicine and surgical centers in the nation, we now offer what we believe is the most convenient and technologically advanced center in the state." The new facility is the largest in the Southeast in terms of square footage and number of labs. It also is one of the few centers in the country to completely integrate multiple lines of health care service within one unit. There will be five service lines within the UAB Heart and Vascular Center: vascular and interventional radiology, pediatric cardiology, interventional neur