His CEO’s brush with near tragedy brought Tom Posey to the Center for Preventive Medicine but the excellent care and service he received keeps him going back. A 53-year old senior vice president for Wells Dairy in LeMars, Iowa, Tom became very interested in preventive medicine after learning of his CEO’s surgery. As an executive benefit, Wells Dairy paid for all seven of its top executives to receive a complete evaluation at the Center for Preventive Medicine at St Luke’s Hospital in Sioux City, Iowa. “I have lived in large cities throughout the country – LA, Atlanta, Houston,” he says, “and I have never seen anything that compares to the Center at St. Luke’s.” Tom was impressed with the comprehensive testing and especially with the cutting edge technology being used at the Center. “I had an imaging test where I actually watched my heart valves opening and closing on a TV screen and the technician was able to measure the size of my arteries. It was amazing.”
Patients in Control
An additional aspect of the Center that impressed Tom was the feeling that he was in control of his own healthcare experience. “Let’s face it,” he says, “Executives like me need to be in control and when you’re in a hospital, you are at the mercy of the doctors and other staff. The environment they create at St. Luke’s is not like that at all.” In addition to a private waiting room outfitted with all the amenities required by a business executive – such as a TV, free Internet access and cell phone privileges – Tom appreciated that he did not lose a full workday while attending the day-long program at St. Luke’s. “My day was interrupted but it was not a total loss,” he says. “It really was the perfect set-up for someone busy like me.”
A Surprising Outcome
Tom knew he had a history of high cholesterol; extensive blood work and imaging uncovered a mass of fatty deposits that his doctor termed a potentially life-threatening ”widow maker.” “I could be out running or walking and that mass could break free, plug up a main artery and trigger a heart attack. Even if I was standing in an emergency room somewhere, they wouldn’t be able to save me,” he says. Tom immediately started a treatment program involving statin medication combined with high doses of niacin to shrink the deposits and reduce plaque build-up. He also returns to the Center every three months to check his cholesterol level and liver functions. A six month scan will tell Tom and his doctor whether the treatment has been effective. “I feel healthier now. I really think my high cholesterol was starting to affect how I felt.”
From Patient to Advocate
“What I liked most was that I received my doctor’s undivided attention,” Tom explains. “Because the physicians are working for the Center, they are not in a hurry to move onto the next patient so they had more time for me.” He was so impressed with the care he received; Tom agreed to serve as a member on an all-new performance board that will measure the performance of St. Luke’s hospital and its staff. “I’m a big advocate,” he says, “and that’s why I will serve on the board. I tell anyone who will listen about the Center. I feel like everyone should be able to know as much about their health as I do about mine.”
[click here to download pdf]