Prince Edward Island’s health care system works year-round to improve the cardiovascular health of Islanders with new and innovative programs and services such as the Heart Health Clinic.
“Health PEI is exploring a number of integrated chronic disease prevention and management strategies to help those suffering from a chronic disease better manage their health,” said Kelley Rayner, Director of Hospital Services for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH). “The provincial Heart Health Clinic aligns itself nicely with the work we are doing across our health system, with other government departments and community partners to better the health of Islanders.”
The provincial Heart Health Clinic, which started as a pilot program at the QEH, helps Islanders with cardiovascular disease manage risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and side effects associated with heart failure. The clinic’s emphasis is on reducing hospitalization and mortality, while improving overall quality of life. Patients are referred to the clinic by their internal medicine specialist.
The Heart Health Clinic has shown very promising results. Since it began operating in January 2009, 140 patients have been referred to the clinic for a total of 577 visits. Similar clinics have also been established in other maritime hospitals with great success.
“We are pleased to offer this service to Islanders and have worked hard to put together a strong health care team with experience and expertise in managing our cardiac patients,” said Dr. Patrick Bergin, medical lead for the Heart Health Clinic. “Our team provides patients and their families with reassurance and teaches them about the importance of medications, lifestyle recommendations and how to manage their heart disease.”
To establish the pilot clinic, the QEH partnered with and received financial support from AstraZeneca for this heart health initiative.
“It’s extremely rewarding for our company to be able to support the provincial Heart Health Clinic, which has had such a positive impact on the lives of so many people in Prince Edward Island,” said Steven Craig, representative for AstraZeneca. “The work conducted at the clinic reflects the commitment of the physicians and health care staff to help patients better manage their cardiovascular health.”
The Heart Health Clinic operates Mondays, Thursdays and every second Wednesday on Unit 6 at the QEH – in internal medicine – but will relocate to QEH’s new Ambulatory Care Centre in the spring of 2012 along with other medical specialty clinics.