Kingwood Medical Center celebrates 1,000th open heart surgery

Kingwood Medical Center’s team of cardiovascular surgeons, cardiologists and staff surround heart surgery patient Angie Martin in celebration of the hospital’s 1,000th open heart surgery 

By Melanie Feuk
Sitting in a wheelchair in front of the Kingwood Medical Center Café, Angie Martin choked back tears as she explained the significance of the heart-shaped pillow she hugged close to her chest.
“They give these pillows to all of their heart surgery patients,” Martin said. “They put it in the bed with us in the ICU right after surgery. Everybody who touches your heart in a certain way while you’re here; they sign your heart pillow.”
Many were gathered with Martin near the hospital café on Tuesday, March 22, because Martin’s recent heart surgery marked Kingwood Medical Center’s 1,000th open heart surgery since the Open Heart Program opened in November 2007.
Friends, family, physicians and staff celebrated the milestone with congratulatory speeches, kind words, refreshments and a large heart-shaped cake.
“I want to thank Martin for sharing this very special moment with us,” Melinda Stephenson, chief executive officer of Kingwood Medical Center, said. “We have been so blessed to have so many outstanding cardiovascular surgeons who have (worked) with us over the years.
“We also want to recognize our team of cardiologists because the program really starts out with our cardiologists. Back in 2005, we started our STEMI (ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction) Program and that was the beginning of really being able to provide quality service, close to home, for patients in need of cardiac or open heart surgery.
“You’ve got to have outstanding CV surgeons, but as I look around this area, the surgeons can’t do it without everybody else, every day at the bedside, taking care of our patients. It’s our CV nurses that are at the bedside taking care of our patients and our nurse practitioners and therapists and anesthesia; everybody who touches the lives of our patients.”
Throughout the celebration, Martin’s already crowded heart pillow was filled with more and more written messages from doctors and staff that had helped her during her stay at Kingwood Medical Center.
As available writing space dwindled, Martin took care to reserve one special spot on the front of the heart upon which Dr. John Davis, the cardiothoracic surgeon who performed the milestone surgery on Martin, was able to write his message to her.
Later, Davis expressed his feelings about the landmark procedure and program as a whole to those in attendance.
“We’re just very grateful to have this opportunity,” Davis said. “It’s been a great run of several years now to get to 1,000 and I just feel really good about all the things we’ve done. You think about that number; that’s a lot of patients we’ve helped get back on track and redirect so they can have a good quality of life.”
Although Martin was relieved to get to return home after her hospital stay, she expressed her gratitude to everyone who had helped her through the process.
“These doctors had my heart in their hands,” Martin said. “Everyone has been so great and I feel a lot better.”

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