Henry Low Heart Center Annual Report, 2007 - Hartford Hospital!

Henry Low Heart Center Retreat
Physicians, nurses and senior leadership from Cardiology
assembled at the Hartford Club for a retreat in November
of 2007. J. Bryan Simmons, Vice President for Planning
and Facilities Development, moderated the retreat and
underscored that Hartford Hospital’s vision is to be
“the regional destination provider of innovative and
complex care.” Francis Kiernan, MD, Director of the
Catheterization Laboratory, focused on critical steps
that reduce the amount of time needed to diagnose
and treat patients with heart attack. Jeffrey Kluger,
MD, Director of the Heart Rhythm Management
Center, pointed to the services provided at satellite
sites stretched across Connecticut, in Wallingford,
From left to right: J. Bryan Simmons; Dr. Henry Low; Dr. Francis Kiernan
New Milford, Torrington, Avon, Glastonbury, West Hartford and Enfield. “We have a loyal and committed staff and a culture
of excellence here at Hartford Hospital,” stated Dr. Kluger. Karen Habig, RN, Nurse Director of Cardiovascular Services, noted
that the accomplishments of the cardiology nurses has been extremely impressive. “Our nurses, Michele Kolios and Ruth Zafian,
were recipients of the Nursing Spectrum awards and the Bliss 10 I team received the 2007 Critical Care Beacon Award from the
American Association of Critical Care Nurses for the second consecutive
year.” Dr. Henry Low, for whom the heart center is named, summed up
the day’s events with the following: “I have been at Hartford Hospital
for the past 55 years. Tremendous changes have occurred during these
years. Fifty-three years ago the Department of Cardiology consisted of
only three private practice cardiologists, and there was no cardiac surgeon.
Now we have full-time and private practice cardiologists specializing
in several different fields of cardiology, and eight cardiac surgeons.
With so many people involved and so many needs, the Cardiology and
Cardiac Surgery Divisions are far more complex than in years past.”
From left to right: Karen Habig, RN, MS; Ann Vale, RN
and Michele Kolios, RN
Retreat