New program educates women on heart disease

Kelcy Dolan
Posted 2/26/15

Heart disease, believe it or not, is the leading killer of women, annually ending the lives of more than eight million women worldwide.

Earlier this month, Women & Infants’ Hospital, established …

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New program educates women on heart disease

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Heart disease, believe it or not, is the leading killer of women, annually ending the lives of more than eight million women worldwide.

Earlier this month, Women & Infants’ Hospital, established the Women’s Heart Health program to help educate women about heart disease and cardiac health.

This gender-specific cardiovascular program is co-directed by Heather Hurlbert, MD, FACC and Alice Kim MD, FACC and focuses on women’s heart health through the varying stages of life for a woman, such as pregnancy, menopause, stress and even weight loss.

“Women tend to take care of others so they forget to care for themselves. We wanted to be able to reach out to those women and help them take control of their health,” Kim said.

The Women’s Heart Health program, located at 90 Plain Street in Providence, is an expansion of the Care New England Cardiovascular Care. Care New England’s cardiac care program began three years ago when a formal relationship was created with Brigham and Women’s in Boston. The affiliation enables Care New England Hospitals to provide top quality cardiac care to patients locally.

Kim said, “There is a definitive connection between all the hospitals and doctors involved. We are a comprehensive and collective team dedicated to your health. You can get an almost immediate diagnosis from the top doctors without having to travel yourself.”

Doctors are using telemedicine, a process of video conferencing and sharing tests and images, where local cardiologists can communicate with their colleagues at Brigham’s so patients can get Boston quality care at area hospitals such as Kent, Memorial and Women & Infants.

Hurlburt said, “We can hold off traveling and transfer until there is a definitive verdict or diagnosis and absolute need.”

Jim Beardsworth, the Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Kent Hospital, said, “You are able to go through the entire patient experience, assessment, testing a diagnosis and treatment; you can receive full cardiac care. We are seeing a patient through all steps to their wellness.”

Even if patients need to travel to Boston for care, Care New England hospitals can be utilized for follow-up care to relieve patients of frequent travel, which Beardsworth says makes the cardio program “very unique.”

“People are coming because they are concerned and want to get better,” Hurlburt said. “Our intention was to make a program that would make it smooth and seamless for those patients to reach their health goals.”

The cardio program is continuing to expand their services and is even in the process of being able to perform angioplasties.

Although the cardiovascular program itself provides services for both men and women, Hurlburt explained that women experience vastly different phases in life than men do and thus can require different care.

She said, “With the new Heart Health program we are capable of helping women manage their heart health and follow them through those changes such as pregnancy menopause with gender specific care.”

Beardsworth said that the program was created after seeing an “overwhelming and outpouring” need.

He said, “We were seeing an influx of this type of patient and we tailored the program to those needs. We tailored the program to be reflective of women’s needs. A program by women for women.”

A main concern for the program is heart disease, which can present far different symptoms in women than men. Symptoms can be very subtle, frequently being tired or stomach pain. Some women present no symptoms whatsoever and heart disease can go unrecognized until a patient experiences a heart attack, congestive hear failure or other heart related medical emergency.

Kim said, “Once they come in with a heart attack it’s like we missed the boat.”

Similarly, Kim mentioned that heart disease is no longer a “disease for the elderly,” noting that more than 9,000 women in the United States under the age of 45 experience a heart attack every year.

The Women’s Heart Health program hopes to be both a proactive and preventative tool for women by providing a wide variety of services from testing, evaluation and cardiac catheterization to arrhythmia services among other things.

Hurlburt said being proactive could make a huge difference in a woman’s life and her susceptibility to heart disease.

She said, “Many cardiac concerns are manageable or even reversible if you are self-aware, follow a routine and pay attention to your lifestyle.”

The program is also working closely with Care New England Wellness Center and its nutritional and stress reduction programs to further the patient experience and their cardiovascular needs.

“We have immediate openings, no wait time and we are happy to see patients taking a proactive step in their health,” Kim said.

For more information on Care New England’s Cardiovasuclar Care program visit their website at carenewengland.org/cardiovascularcare or email cardio@carene.org

For more information on Women & Infant’s Women’s heart Health program visit womenandinfants.org/cardiology or email cardio@carene.org

To make an appointment with Women’s Heart Health program and their offices on 90 Plain Street in Providence, call 681-4996.

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