The provincial government says a recent pilot project to improve access to cardiac care is making a difference for patients.

The project, dubbed “Heart Force One,” focuses on patients who need cardiac catheterization procedures that can only be done in the St. John’s region.

Those patients are flown to St. John’s to get the procedure done, and then flown back to their health care region all in the same day.

According to government the initiative was spearheaded by the Eastern Health, with patients being assessed based on clinical acuity and their ability to fly.

So far, 25 patients have availed of the program.

Premier Andrew Furey says having the ability to fly patients in for such a procedure can have big benefits for wait times.

He uses Labrador West as an example. He says if a patient there has a cardiac episode, and it’s determined that they need the procedure, the wait time is determined by the availability of beds in St. John’s.

Furey says the patient could be waiting a day or several weeks for a bed to open up. This program eliminates that issue by allowing patients to be treated and returned home that same day.

And if the project continues to work well, Furey says there are other outpatient procedures that could work through a similar program. He believes that could open up doors for patients to get the care they need.