Queen's Heart Synergizes Heart Care at The Queen's Medical Center

Queen's Heart offers free Heart Screenings for employees and the public alike.

Synergy is the phenomenon in which combined actions provide greater results than the sum of individual effects or capabilities. Tom Williams, RN, manager of Cardiac Non-Invasive and the Cardiac Transfer Center, says synergy is the perfect word for describing the team of employees that make up Queen's Heart. February is nationally recognized as Heart Month, and Queen's Heart deserves their share of accolades.

"Queen's Heart is anywhere we are," says Williams. Queen's Heart as a department was previously called the Queen's Heart Center, but "center" was dropped because there is no central destination for heart related services—nor should there be. Queen's Heart includes Queen's doctors, nurses, technologists and other staff taking care of people's hearts on any unit or Physicians Office Building or Queen's Health Care Clinic. More simply put, Queen's Heart is located anywhere Queen's health professionals care for people's hearts.

Queen's Heart staff have been organized under this big picture concept over the past year. Two new programs, the Cardiac Transfer Center and Cardiac Curbside, were launched last year to facilitate cardiac care by making it easier for patients to access cardiac services. "Departments throughout Queen's have come together in cooperation with one goal-what's best for the patient," says Williams.

Williams says he could go on for about an hour describing different projects and ways Queen's Heart is making patient care both better and easier. But the real issue is that the employees are the driving force behind all of the ideas. "These folks are in sync with the values of Queen's and they really embody those values, he says. "My staff will come and find me if they think something is not working for the patient's best benefit." Queen's Heart has a higher utilization per employee when compared to 13 of the top 50 hospitals documented in the U.S. News and World Report's 'Best Hospitals of 2005' listing. Robert Data, an EKG tech noted, "Everybody bends over backwards for patient care at Queen's Heart."

Free Heart Screenings are available from Queen's Heart by calling 808.547.GIFT (547-4438).