Gary Wells, 57, is chief executive of Wells' Dairy, Inc., the largest family owned and managed dairy processor in the United States. His company, maker of Blue Bunny ice cream, has a policy of paying for executives to undergo an annual physical exam -- until recently at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. In early 2005, Mr. Wells accepted an invitation to try out the executive health services of The Center for Preventive Medicine® at St. Luke's Hospital in nearby Sioux City, Iowa. A decision borne of convenience proved fortuitous.
"A walking time bomb"
A CT (computer tomography) scan of Gary Wells' heart showed excessive calcium in his arteries, and a stress echocardiogram suggested a risk for heart attack so severe that the administering physician, Dr. Richard Hildebrand -- the Center's medical director -- halted the test. Mr. Wells was scheduled to consult Sioux City cardiologist Dr. Kenneth Tjeerdsma that same evening. Soon thereafter, an angiogram showed dangerous accumulations of plaque in his coronary arteries that could not be remedied with stents. "My cardiologist called me a walking time bomb, and told me I needed heart bypass surgery right away," he says. "The doctor suggested where I could go for the procedure, including a good heart unit here in town. I protested that I had business commitments, that I don't have time for this right now. He told me 'you can't leave this hospital until you tell us which hospital you're going to so we can put you in the ambulance and take you there.'" Quintuple bypass surgery performed by Sioux City thoracic surgeon Dr. John Anderson followed by six weeks of recuperation gave Gary a new lease on life.
Twice rescued by early detection
Gary Wells realized early on that he had some health risks, notably a family history of cancer. A routine checkup six years ago detected prostate cancer. Detection of the disease in its early stages was crucial to his full recovery. His heart disease was more of a surprise. "I had two major medical events with major operations, both detected through preventive medicine," he says. "What I have to do is recognize that I have that set of factors to deal with, and then try to counter them with the right diet and exercise, and the right medications."
Preventive medicine is "cheap insurance"
An increasing body of evidence -- both anecdotal and rigorously researched -- demonstrates both the medical wisdom and the cost-effectiveness of preventive medicine. For Gary Wells, preventive medicine figures prominently in his personal philosophy and in his corporate policies. Promoting -- and often helping to pay for -- medical checkups for his employees is what he calls "cheap insurance." "People showing up for work every day and not being home sick is a good thing," he says, "and people avoiding having to go to the hospital to have a heart bypass for $25,000 is another good thing. We need to work hard to help keep our people healthy, and not focus just on avoiding expenses by passing them off to our employees or finding a cheaper hospital."
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