World-class cardiac care at your doorstep

A message from the president of Greenwich Hospital

For some of us, the pandemic’s impact on our physical and mental health has pushed other medical concerns to the back burner, particularly heart disease, which remains the leading cause of death for women and men in the United States.

Heart disease can encompass any disorder that affects the heart, including coronary artery disease, arrhythmia, heart valve disease and heart failure. Ignoring the symptoms of heart disease can have serious consequences. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease accounts for one in every four deaths in our nation.

Dealing with heart disease is challenging enough without the extra burden of traveling a far distance to receive world-class cardiac care. Consider the case of Jill Ernst of Greenwich, who is featured in this issue’s cover story. Ernst suffered from supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), an abnormally fast or erratic heartbeat involving a malfunction of the heart’s electrical system.

Ernst was diagnosed by Ilir Maraj, MD, a Yale Medicine electrophysiologist at the Yale New Haven Health Heart and Vascular Center at 500 West Putnam Avenue in Greenwich. When medication failed to resolve the arrhythmia, Dr. Maraj recommended a noninvasive procedure known as ablation at Greenwich Hospital’s Electrophysiology Laboratory, just a few miles away from the Heart and Vascular Center. Patients who require major cardiovascular surgeries are sent to Yale New Haven Hospital but are able to return to Greenwich for post-operative services and cardiac rehabilitation.

Ernst is back to enjoying her favorite activities, including teaching yoga. Her experience illustrates the value in choosing a hospital and outpatient facility associated with a world-class healthcare system such as Yale New Haven Health.

— Diane P. Kelly, President