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ST. HELENA HOSPITAL CELEBRATES 25 YEARS AS NORTH BAY’S CARDIAC CARE LEADER

Anniversary Celebration to be Held Sunday, September 26

1971: Ed, a 56-year old man from St. Helena, was raced to the St. Helena Hospital emergency room by his wife. Ed was suffering from severe chest pains and a pain that radiated down his left arm; he was quickly diagnosed as having a heart attack.

If the blocked area of the heart is not treated within six hours after the onset of a heart attack, the muscle in the afflicted area begins to die. But prior to the mid 1970s, only a few centers in the United States had the capability of performing emergency angiograms (to view and map the blocked areas of the heart) or bypass surgery (to provide blood flow via another vessel to the blocked area) to treat a heart attack while it was happening, or to prevent it from happening in the first place.

Ed was immediately admitted to the Intensive Care Unit, where he was closely monitored and treated with medication to avoid ventricular fibrillation or heart failure. He remained there for several weeks until the afflicted area had healed and scarred over. Soon after, he was flown down to southern California for bypass graft surgery to remove the dead tissue. After a few weeks in the hospital followed by a few weeks of rest at home, he was finally able to return to work.

High-Tech Help for Local Hearts

But, in 1972, thanks to a small group of physicians, the residents of the North Bay area had revolutionary, life-saving treatment made available to them locally. Wilson White, MD, Charles Tam, MD, Winfred Zimmerly, MD, Dewane Brueske, MD, and H. Romain Dixon, MD, pooled funds to purchase the equipment necessary to establish a cardiovascular catheterization lab at St. Helena Hospital, the only one in northern California outside of San Francisco and Sacramento. St. Helena Hospital thus became the first in the North Bay Area to perform coronary angiograms.

When the lab first opened, Dr. Charles Tam from Long Beach Memorial would fly up each Sunday and, with cardiologist Wilson White, MD, would perform four or five angiograms that day on patients suffering from heart disease, which Dr. White scheduled the preceding week.

Building the Team of Experts

In 1974, Dr. Tam and his brother, cardiac surgeon Wilfred Tam, MD, moved to St. Helena, thus joining Dr. White in creating the North Bay Area’s first cardiac surgery team and program, years before any other area hospital. “Emergency coronary angiograms and emergency coronary artery bypass procedures were standard treatment for heart attacks at St. Helena Hospital before it was even an option at most hospitals,” explains cardiologist James Lies, MD. “St. Helena Hospital was probably one of the first community hospitals of this size doing heart surgery, and was one of the first to operate a cardiovascular catheterization lab.” But the need was obviously there. In 1975, St. Helena Hospital performed almost 400 angiograms. Over the next few years, the program was further strengthened as other renowned cardiologists, vascular radiologists and cardiac surgeons (including Wilfred Huse, MD, in 1975 and Donald Wilson, MD, in 1980), and joined the staff.

In 1980, a new cardiovascular (CV) suite was put in to keep up with the leaps in technology and need. In 1981, St. Helena Hospital became the first in the North Bay to perform coronary angioplasty, an interventional treatment in which a tiny balloon is threaded through the arteries to the blockage, then inflated to open up the space for the blood flow. With angiograms and angioplasty available, a partially blocked artery could be reopened, catching the problem before it caused a heart attack or even death. The CV suite was upgraded in 1986, and a second CV suite installed in 1993 to keep up with the increasing need for service. In 1996 the lab added to its high-tech menu stent placement, rotablator and, in conjunction with UCSF, electrophysiology studies.

Meanwhile, St. Helena Hospital’s cardiac surgery program was establishing its own impressive record. The program continued to grow. In 1986 the San Jose Mercury News published statistics about outcomes for open-heart surgeries in California. St. Helena Hospital was listed as having the second-lowest mortality rate in the state: less than three percent. In 1992, St. Helena Hospital’s cardiac team performed its 5,000th open-heart surgery.

Cardiac Intervention Today: Medicine and Outpatient Treatment

Thanks to technological advances in cardiac diagnostics and treatment, many cardiac problems that were once only treatable through major surgery can now be treated on a non-invasive, outpatient basis without anesthesia. “A diagnosis of heart disease doesn’t have to mean open-heart surgery—advanced diagnostics, from echocardiography and nuclear medicine scans to MRI, sophisticated screenings and angiograms, allow us to decide what level of intervention is necessary,” explains cardiologist Whie Oh, MD.

“We have treatment options available to us that don’t involve surgery: angioplasty, stents and rotablators for treating blocked vessels, adds Pieter VandenHoven, MD. “We’re now also seeing more medicine-based treatment for coronary diseases, and we can analyze a person’s genetic markers to target which forms of cardiac intervention work best for a patient.”

These diagnoses and treatment options are performed in the Hospital’s state-of-the-art cardiovascular suite, which contains a digital bi-plane lab, the only one in Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Solano and Mendocino counties, the first of its kind in the U.S. for adult use, and the West Coast show site for Toshiba Medical U.S. The lab uses digital imaging computer storage rather than 35 mm film, and unlike any other cardiovascular lab in the area, views arteries from two planes, rather than one. The result is safer, clearer, sharper images, available instantly.

The suite is in use seven days a week, and open 24 hours a day. More than 2,000 procedures were performed in the suite in 1998. The lab’s staff of cardiologists, radiologists, CV technologists and registered nurses have an average working experience of more than 20 years. The technologists were all trained by one of the nation’s leading cardiac radiologists in the U.S., Melvin Judkins, who was a pioneer in cardiac catheterization and the developer of current catheter and equipment technology. Procedures performed include left and right cardiac catheterizations, coronary and peripheral angiograms, angioplasty, stent placements, coronary rotational atherectomy, pacemaker and implantable defibrillator insertions and electrophysiology studies.

Cardiac Surgery Today: Safer and Easier

But there are times when surgery is necessary. “Since we started the North Bay’s first cardiac surgery program 25 years ago, the improvements in technology and expertise have made surgery a safe option for those who would have been considered too old or ill to undergo surgery before,” explains cardiac and thoracic surgeon Wilfred Huse. “Whereas an average patient age in 1974 was in the mid-50s, surgery is now a safe option for many people in their 80s or sometimes older. A few years ago, we treated a gentleman in his late 80s. He’s now 91, and drives his 83-year old friend, who has also had open-heart surgery, to her appointments here.”

With a primary referral network spanning five counties, St. Helena Hospital’s Cardiac Center remains at the forefront of the cardiovascular surgery field. St. Helena Hospital cardiac surgeon Donald Wilson, MD, was one the first in the Bay Area to perform minimally invasive cardiac artery bypass surgery, done by in 1996. It remains the only one in Napa County offering this innovative form of bypass surgery, which doesn’t require opening the entire chest cavity or placing the patient on a heart-lung machine during surgery. In 1997, St. Helena Hospital was the first in the nation to purchase the Medtronic Octopus™, for its minimally invasive cardiac surgery program. The Hospital’s surgical team today has more than 70 years combined experience and has performed more than 15,000 open-heart operations, and its members are all board certified in both cardiac and thoracic surgery. Procedures performed by the team include minimally invasive bypass surgery, traditional bypass surgery, valve replacement, stentless valves, ablation and pacemaker insertion. And unlike most cardiac surgery teams, the surgeons serve as each others’ surgical team, rather than surgical nurses or assistants.

Keeping Mended Hearts Healthy

Wonders can be worked when it comes to healing hearts, but procedures or surgeries work only if someone takes the proper steps to maintain that healthy heart. St. Helena Hospital’s cardiovascular rehabilitation helps patients return to an active life, educates them about how to care for their heart with proper exercise, diet and lifestyle modifications and can even help reverse coronary disease. The Hospital’s state-of-the-art telemetry and exercise equipment and trained staff of cardiovascular clinical nurse specialists provide clients with a safe way to begin exercising and returning to normal activity, and being in a Hospital setting gives them the comfort of knowing help is available if an emergency were to arise. The program was launched April 1998, and the program provided 900 patient treatments by the end of the year.

“Some hospitals tout the excellence of their cardiovascular suite, or their surgery program,” explains St. Helena Hospital president and CEO JoAline Olson, “but our history demonstrates that our Cardiac Center is dedicated to providing the very best in the whole continuum of heart care: diagnosis, intervention, surgery and rehabilitation. Because we don’t just heal hearts; we heal people.”

ST. HELENA HOSPITAL FOUNDATION WELCOMES NEW BOARD MEMBERS

Stacey Bressler

Coming to the Napa Valley via Silicon Valley, Stacey Bressler brings to the Foundation Board marketing and business development experience from both the high-tech computer industry and the nonprofit sector. A vice president of marketing and business development for CommerceNet Consortium, a nonprofit organization, she has also worked for well-known commercial enterprises such as Hewlett-Packard, NeXT and Apple Computer. In addition she worked for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Education, and as an independent consultant.

Stacey and her husband Bob are currently completing the transition to becoming full-time Napa Valley residents. “Since I’m new to the area and have worked with nonprofits, I wanted to use my skills to serve my new community. Joining the St. Helena Hospital Foundation Board seemed the right way to start.”

Leland Gustafson

From underground gas lines to church steeples, Leland (Lee) Gustfason brings a skill for strategic planning and implementation to the projects he undertakes. As a vice president and the lead field officer after the 1989 Loma Prieta quake, Lee was responsible for the rebuilding of the underground gas and electrical systems in San Francisco. “We threw out our standard practices and approval procedures,” he explains, “and let our employees do what we had trained them to do.” As a result, his team did the work in less time while maintaining exemplary safety and high morale among employees and customers.

Lee and his wife Janet now live in St. Helena, where he puts his strategic planning expertise to work for various community projects, including the Foundation Board. “I’m living life. I can’t imagine sitting around rocking,” he says of his “retirement.” He leads the long-range planning and building program at Grace Episcopal Church in St. Helena, and is president-elect for the St. Helena Rotary. He is also an avid golfer and enjoys writing fiction. The newest member of the St. Helena Hospital Foundation Board, Lee joined at the invitation of board member Bob Trinchero. “As a community member and a former patient, I just admire what St. Helena Hospital does and what it stands for.”

Steven Herber, MD, FACS

Steven Herber, MD, FACS, the medical director for the St. Helena Institute for Plastic Surgery and founder of the Napa Valley’s only cleft-palate team, is one of California’s leading instructors and practitioners in progressive plastic and reconstructive surgery techniques. Dr. Herber obtained his medical degree and surgical residency training at Loma Linda University School of Medicine, where he later returned as a member of the teaching faculty in the Department of Surgery after completing a plastic surgery residency and faculty appointment at Yale University School of Medicine.

Dr. Herber contributes widely to medical journals and textbooks, has presented at the International Symposium of Plastic Surgery, and appears as an authority representing his specialty on radio and television networks. His expertise in reconstructive surgery has led him on volunteer medical missions and involved him as a instructor for visiting teams from around the globe, for which he received the Burroughs-Welcome Leadership Award from the AMA. He is a member of the International Relations committee of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association, which formulates policy for developing volunteer medical programs around the world. Being on staff at the Hospital gives Dr. Herber a different view of the Hospital’s involvement. “I see, on a day-to-day basis, what role the Hospital plays in providing community services, so I look forward to supporting and furthering those services both as a physician and as a member of the Foundation Board.”

Holly Peterson Mondavi

Armed with both an enology degree from U.C. Davis and a Diplome de Cuisine from the La Varenne Cooking School in Paris, Holly Peterson Mondavi is a well-respected food and wine consultant for restaurants, hotels, cooking schools and health spas around the world, and the proprietor of Holly’s Cooking Basics, a line of specialty food items. In addition to her travel around the world on behalf of clients and her own business, Holly is an involved member of the Napa Valley community, lending her expertise to events such as the Napa Valley Wine Auction and the Napa Valley Classic.

Holly’s introduction to the St. Helena Hospital Foundation Board came through her husband Timothy, who is a past chair. “I’ve seen great things accomplished through the St. Helena Hospital Foundation board and St. Helena Hospital,” Holly explains. “All involved are an inspiration, and I look forward to contributing and working with this special team of people.”

Lettie Smeding

Joining the St. Helena Hospital Foundation Board was a natural thing for Lettie Smeding. Besides being a third-generation St. Helena resident, Lettie has a three-generation history with the Hospital: she was born at St. Helena Hospital, as were her mother and her two sons, Hendrik and Bergen. “I have a soft spot for St. Helena Hospital because of the care my family has received here over the years,” Lettie admits.

A St. Helena High and UC Davis graduate, Lettie returned to the Napa Valley with her husband Hendrik a few years after graduation, and the two own and operate a specialty trading company in St. Helena. She enjoys endurance and trail riding with her family, raising Murray Grey cattle and Old Stock Arabian horses, hunting and fishing.