Mercy Hot Springs First in Arkansas to Implant Miniature Cardiac Monitor
HOT SPRINGS – Mercy Hospital Hot Springs is the first in Arkansas to implant the Medtronic Reveal LINQ Insertable Cardiac Monitor (ICM) system in a patient, the smallest implantable cardiac monitoring device available.
The Reveal LINQ ICM is approximately one-third the size of a AAA battery, making it more than 80 percent smaller than other ICMs. While significantly smaller, the device is part of a powerful system that allows physicians to continuously and wirelessly monitor a patient’s heart for up to three years, with 20 percent more data memory than its larger predecessor.
The state’s first procedure was performed by Mercy Hot Springs Cardiologist Dr. Fred Heinemann on Friday, March 7 in the Mercy Heart and Vascular Center.
The device is indicated for patients who experience symptoms such as dizziness, palpitation, fainting and chest pain that may suggest a cardiac arrhythmia, and for patients at increased risk for cardiac arrhythmias. In this case, patient Sabrina Dickerson of Glenwood had been experiencing blackouts and unable to drive as a result.
Unlike the bulky external monitors, which can be difficult to sleep while wearing, the Reveal LINQ ICM is placed just beneath the skin through a small incision of less than 1 cm in the upper left side of the chest. It is nearly invisible to the naked eye once inserted through the minimally invasive procedure.
The device is also MR-Conditional, which allows patients to undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) if needed.
Dickerson will also have a MyCareLink Patient Monitor at home, a simplified remote monitoring system with global cellular technology that transmits patients’ cardiac device diagnostic data to their clinicians from nearly any location in the world. It will download data as scheduled by doctor’s orders.
Vein Center Offers Specialized Care For Venous Disease
LITTLE ROCK – An estimated 20 percent of adults suffer needlessly from Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI) – a common cause of varicose veins and venous ulcers as well as leg pain and swelling, according to the Vascular Disease Foundation. In addition, a US study reported that 27 percent of American adults had some form of venous disease in their legs.
Venous disease is when disease like CVI occurs in the veins – one of three types of blood vessels whose function is to return blood back to the heart from all parts of the body.
With the opening of Baptist Health Vein Center, central Arkansas residents have access to specialized treatment from highly trained professionals for venous disease.
Urogynecologist Joins Cooper Clinic
FORT SMITH - Urogynecologist, Carey Andreoiu, DO., has joined Cooper Clinic, P.A. The only urogynecologist in Arkansas outside of Little Rock, she specializes in the evaluation and treatment of urologic problems unique to women including bladder control, pelvic pain, recurrent urinary tract infections, and vaginal and bladder prolapse. She will also provide general gynecological care.
Dr. Andreoiu earned her medical degree from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, Kansas City, Missouri. She completed a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology through the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio, and has received special robotic training in the da Vinci Surgical System. Her three-year Urogynecology Fellowship training was through Cleveland Clinic Florida.
Dr. Andreoiu’s practice will be located on the 3rd floor of the main Cooper Clinic in Fort Smith. She plans to provide care at both Mercy Hospital and Sparks Regional Medical Center. Her husband, Dr. Matei Andreoiu, is a urologist who has also joined Cooper Clinic.
Dr. Yammine chosen Hot Springs Physician of the Year
HOT SRINGS - Mercy Hospital Hot Springs is proud to announce Dr.Youssef Yammine has been named the Physician of the Year.
Dr. Yammine, who is a Pulmonologist and Critical Care Physician, was nominated by his co-workers for the award.
Each quarter, a physician is selected as Physician of the Quarter. This year’s quarterly winners were Dr. Yammine, Dr. Robert Olive, Dr. Manjusha Kota and Dr. Charles Reeves. The Physician of the Year is then selected from these winners.
Dr. Yammine came to Mercy Hot Springs in 2012 after finishing a three-year specialty training program at the University of Oklahoma.
Dean of Harding University Nursing College to Step Down from Position
SEARCY — Dr. Cathleen Shultz, dean of the Carr College of Nursing at Harding University, has announced her decision to step down from the position June 1.
After concluding her administrative duties, Shultz will begin a yearlong sabbatical in June to engage in scholarly writing. She will remain a full-time professor of nursing.
Shultz has been a member of the Harding faculty since 1976. In 1977 she was named chairperson of the department of nursing, and then in 1980 she became the founding dean of Carr College of Nursing.
Shultz was the first Arkansan elected to the national board of governors of the National League for Nursing (NLN) and the only Arkansan to serve as president of the organization.
Under Shultz’s leadership, Carr College of Nursing was the first nursing program in Arkansas to use computers as a part of learning, introduce primary care in the curriculum, provide health services for Head Start and HIPPY programs, initiate health screening clinics in public schools, provide health information and services for the elderly, and incorporate health missions into the curriculum.
Shultz was appointed by Governors Bill Clinton and Mike Beebe to serve on the Arkansas State Board of Nursing. She is currently serving her fourth term on the governing body. She was elected to serve as president of the board from 1991-92. She is currently chair of the board’s education committee.
She is a graduate of the University of South Carolina (B.S.N.), Emory University (M.N.) and Vanderbilt University (Ph.D.).
New Women’s Health Specialist at NEA Baptist
Jonesboro - Dr. Dominique Butawan-Ali recently joined NEA Baptist Clinic Women’s Health as an obstetrics and gynecology specialist and is now accepting new patients.
Dr. Butawan-Ali specializes in minimally invasive procedures for women. With the use of the DaVinci Surgical System, she is able to perform surgeries such as hysterectomies with a single incision or multiple-site incision. This type of procedure allows her to operate leaving little to no evidence of the procedure resulting in less pain for the patient and faster recovery times.
Dr. Dominique Butawan-Ali graduated with a medical degree from University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center in Memphis, TN. She went on to complete her residency in the obstetrics and gynecology department, also at University of Tennessee.
Dr. Butawan-Ali recently moved to Jonesboro from Pinehurst, North Carolina where she has practiced since the completion of her residency. Her husband, Dr. Cina Ali, is a radiologist and will also join NEA Baptist Clinic late summer 2014.