Sequoia Heart Symposium Offers Education on Cutting-Edge Care

From Dignity Health: Cardiologists, primary care physicians, nurses, and other caregivers from throughout the San Francisco Bay Area came together recently to learn about important trends in cardiac care at the annual Dignity Health Sequoia Hospital Heart and Vascular Institute Symposium.

The day-long event was held at The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay and included more than a dozen speakers addressing every aspect of cardiac care, including outcomes, risk assessment, management of chronic conditions, and even caregiver burnout.

“Our annual heart symposium provides a forum for caregivers in our community to learn about the latest and greatest in cardiac care,” said Sequoia Hospital President Bill Graham. “The breadth of knowledge presented by the speakers is a testament to the level of care available to patients in the Bay Area, and our commitment to providing the best care possible.”

Symposium highlights:

- Sequoia Hospital Cardiac Surgeon Adam Harmon, MD kicked off the day by welcoming attendees and discussed Sequoia’s affiliation with the Cleveland Clinic Heart & Vascular Institute.

- Edward Soltesz, MD of Cleveland Clinic also highlighted the affiliation, which aims to share best practices related to patient care, outcomes measurement, quality reporting and clinical research. Like Cleveland Clinic, Sequoia Hospital has received a three-star rating, the highest possible, from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons for cardiac surgery quality.

- A heart failure expert, Mary Larson, MD discussed national trends in heart failure, treatment considerations, and possible interventions.

- Cardiac specialists provided up-to-date information for primary caregivers who may have patients with cardiac issues including: preoperative risk assessment (Shalini Bhambani, MD), peripheral vascular disease (Edouard Aboian, MD), atrial fibrillation (Roger Winkle, MD), syncope (Gregory Engel, MD), valvular heart disease (Donald St. Claire, Jr., MD), and pulmonary hypertension (Olga Fortenko, MD).

- Speakers also addressed the diagnostic and treatment technology available for cardiac patients, including interventional radiology (Anobel Tamrazi, MD), cardiac CT (Nellis Smith, MD), and lipid therapy (Bahman Nouri, MD).

- Nursing leadership from Sequoia Hospital also led a session on HeartMATH, a curriculum focused on effective, scientifically-based tools and technologies to help participants feel empowered to self-regulate their emotions and behaviors. The training has also been provided to caregivers at Sequoia Hospital, and is designed to reduce stress, increase resilience, and address tools for preventing caregiver burnout.

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