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In the wake of the deaths of Gigi and Sally,
family and friends found out that heart
disease is a women's #1 health care risk. By
a mile. That was a surprise to everyone
associated with Gigi and Sally. Most of the
women close to Jim Clarke had never even had
their hearts thoroughly checked.
A study of women's awareness of, and
attitudes toward, heart disease
and stroke prepared for the American Heart
Association concluded that
women's knowledge and awareness of heart
disease is not commensurate with its status as the number one killer of
American women.
The 2 BigHearts Foundation, whose
genesis came from these realizations
and discussions in the week after Gigi and
Sally’s deaths, sought to
find health care partners who were committed
specifically to women's
heath health, and not just heart health.
Trish Crepeau and Jim Clarke
found that one of our local hospitals,
LaPorte Hospital in LaPorte,
Indiana, had a program geared toward women’s
cardiac health, Women's
Heart Advantage. We went to see them and we
loved them.
Women's HeartAdvantage is a VHA-supported
initiative to raise awareness
of and change the outcomes in women with
heart disease. The fact is,
cardiovascular disease continues to be
under-diagnosed and untreated in
women as compared to men. Consequently, it
accounts for more than
500,000, or 43 percent, of all female deaths
each year.
The availability of open-heart surgery and
angioplasty conveniently
located in our community provides a
significant advantage to the way we
deliver cardiac care. While The Heart Center
is located on the 1st and
2nd floors of La Porte Regional Health
System, our diagnostic and
outpatient services are conveniently located
on the first floor. The
second floor includes two open-heart suites
located just around the
corner from the Cardiovascular Intensive
Care Unit (CVICU). The CVICU
utilizes the cardiac universal bed concept,
which allows the patients
to stay in the same bed from admission to
discharge.
Jim Clarke met Anabel
Volgman, MD, in 2005 at Rush. One of the
foremost
cardiac physicians in the region, Dr.
Volgman is a strong advocate for
women’s heart health and prevention. Jim and
Dr. Volgman were asked to
speak on women’s heart health at the request
of the wife of the
Illinois governor. Jim and Dr. Volgman
forged a lasting friendship;
they each had a passion for spreading the
word about women’s heart
health. Their alliance give rise to a number
of screenings at Rush, and
to a coordinated effort to continue to test
for heart irregularities in
women residing in the Chicago area.
Rush has specialists devoted to diagnosing
and treating virtually every
type of heart problem in adults and
children. The cardiovascular
program at Rush University Medical Center in
Chicago,
Illinois, continues to be a national leader
in coronary care. Working
in state-of-the-art facilities, using some
of the world’s most
sophisticated technology, cardiac experts at
Rush are on the leading
edge of diagnosis, treatment and discovery.
From preventive measures to
heart transplantation, they are
revolutionizing heart care.
Nick Zagotta, a longtime
friend of Jim Clarke and a member of the
Board of Directors at St. James Hospital & Health
System, suggested that Jim
meet with a number of people at St. James to
discuss forming a
strategic alliance. The idea met with great
enthusiasm; it was a
perfect fit for many reasons, among them the
fact that Gigi and Sally
grew up in nearby Lansing. That sense of
good will resulted in a strong
bond with the people at St. James — and a
long-lasting alliance to hold
heart health screenings while promoting
education about heart disease
in women.
St. James has gained national recognition as
a leading cardiovascular
hospital. Their Heart and Vascular Institute
is advancing today’s
treatments with its enhanced technology,
expert care and comprehensive
approach. From prevention programs, stress
and nuclear cardiology
testing, non-invasive cardiac procedures and
cardiac bypass, to cardiac
rehabilitation and a complete range of
outpatient services, there’s no
need to go anywhere else for world-class
heart care.
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