Not pictured: Riley Benter, director of outpatient cardiovascular services.
When diagnosed with the condition of heart failure, a common initial response is to lose hope. Patients are requested to get treatment that leaves them physically and mentally exhausted, then use the remaining energy for daily activities. Many health conditions are serious, but when it comes to the heart, the lifeline of the body, its health is vital to overall wellbeing. Thankfully, the care team at AdventHealth Redmond’s Advanced Heart Care Clinic is here to help patients’ health get on track, sparking lost vitality into new beginnings and a fresh start.
Spearheaded by Himanshu Patel, MD, a board-certified cardiologist and his talented care team, the Advanced Heart Care Clinic, a department of AdventHealth Redmond, offers incredible patient experiences through meaningful relationships. “They treat you like kings and queens," said David Gentry, a patient of the clinic. “They are always kind, and they are honest people.”
As a resident of Rome for nearly two decades, Dr. Patel has walked alongside patients who were faced with the diagnosis continuous encouragement, his patients could reverse the effects of heart failure, and live a fuller, happier life.
“My passion is helping patients in Northwest Georgia experience what optimal heart health is,” Dr. Patel said. “Some patients receive treatment from our clinic for a few months and some are with us for a longer amount of time but seeing them leave our care with a new sense of confidence to manage their heart failure is a blessing. I am most proud of the amount of experience this clinic has, which includes over 30 years of provider experience and cumulatively over 50 years of nursing experience.”
According to patient Scott Parker, his daily living was severely impacted before getting treatment at the Advanced Heart Care Clinic. “My weight was higher than it had ever been, my life meant forcing myself to work when I could and sleeping the rest of the time and I was desperate for change,” Parker said. By July of 2022, Parker had received four heart stents and had been told by other health care systems that there was not much that could be done. He was referred to the Advanced Heart Failure Clinic the following January and he was skeptical anything would improve. Encouraged by Marenda Russell, NP-C, Lori Brady, NP-C, and Tammie Hincy, RN, Parker began to see slow results in a few short months following a tough decision to walk away from his career to focus on his health full-time.
Russell and Brady are the two nurse practitioners on staff at the Advanced Heart Failure Clinic. They work collaboratively with Dr. Patel and the rest of the care team to guide and support patients on their journey back to health.
Hincy is the longest reigning team member on staff. She has more than 36 years of nursing experience, and she has worked the last 19 years of her career at the Advanced Heart Care Clinic. “Working in the clinic allows me the opportunity to build rapport with patients and their families,” Hincy said. “Our goal is to help our patients stay out of the hospital and allow them the ability to do the things they enjoy.”
While Parker’s treatment is still ongoing, he now only visits the clinic once a month instead of once a week, and he has gone from 1,000 steps a day to 3,000. “People that live with chronic heart failure deal with things that most people aren’t aware of; there is difficulty that comes with taking a shower and having shortness of breath walking room to room,” Parker said. “I now have more good days than bad and that is because everyone at the clinic are angels in scrubs.”
Luckily, the care team does not only provide the most specialized care and technologies, but the clinic’s main attraction is access to a provider on site every day of the week, a standard issue for most advanced health care practices. “We have the ability to discuss patients with a provider five days a week because there is an NP or MD here every day with us,” Hincy said. As the longest-standing heart failure clinic in Rome, with many of the original team members, patients can trust the experience and care they receive. In addition, patients can contact a member of the care team and ask for immediate care through same-day appointments. If the schedule isn’t open, they will offer needed medical advice over the phone.
Directly behind the clinic is AdventHealth Redmond. The hospital is ranked as a Top 50 Cardiovascular Hospital by PINC AI and Fortune and has earned a gold seal of approval by the Joint Commission in Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI), Advanced Heart Failure and is certified as a Primary Stroke Center. AdventHealth Redmond is also a level 1 Emergency Cardiac Care Center. As the heart care experts in Northwest Georgia, residents can trust that AdventHealth Redmond is prepared and ready to keep their heartbeats going.
For more information on your neighborhood heart care experts, please visit GeorgiaHeartExperts.com.