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HEART HEALTH
A N E W S T A T E - O F - T H E - A R T
E L E C T R O P H Y S I O L O G Y L A B W I L L H E L P
P A T I E N T S W I T H H E A R T R H Y T H M P R O B L E M S
Keeping
Pace
By Andrea Kalas-Nagel
THERE’S GOOD NEWS FOR PATIENTS IN NEED OF HEART RHYTHM SERVICES IN THE INLAND
Northwest. Construction is under way to build a new, 1,020-square-foot electrophysiology lab at
the Kootenai Heart Center. This addition to the Heart Center is possible thanks in part to funds
raised at the Kootenai Health Foundation Festival of Trees in 2011.
“We’ll be seeing an additional 300 to 500 patients each
year in Coeur d’Alene,” said electrophysiologist Timothy
Lessmeier, M.D., Heart Clinics Northwest. “Everything
will be brand new; we’re hoping to have the best facility
in the region for treating heart rhythm problems.”
While the new facility will certainly benefit patients
in Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Hayden, outlying areas
will also benefit from the new lab. Patients in northern
Idaho, western Montana and even eastern Washington
will have access to state-of-the-art care closer to home.
The new lab will have cutting-edge equipment including
biplane fluoroscopy, a 3Dmapping system, intra-cardiac
echocardiography, and radio frequency ablation.
Sherry McGowan, 43, a Post Falls resident, is just one
of the patients who will benefit from the new facility.
“Not having your family around is hard when you’re
in the hospital,” McGowan said. “Spokane isn’t that far
away, but it’s just far enough to make it hard for families
to commute to visit their loved one.”
McGowan was diagnosedwith congestive heart failure
in 2006 and now has a biventricular defibrillator to help
prevent cardiac arrest. She has received treatment in
Spokane multiple times since her initial diagnosis.
“Dr. Lessmeier has been the best,” McGowan said.
“This has made such an improvement inmy daily life and
my health. I’m excited to have the new facility closer and
have care more accessible. When I was in the hospital I
was fortunate that my husband was able to be with me,
but my daughters had to stay home.”
The need for the new heart rhythm program at Koote-
nai continues to grow, Dr. Lessmeier said. “The number
of patients we see has increased greatly over the past
year—we’re seeing a lot of heart rhythm patients now.”
Electrophysiology treats heart rhythm disorders and
symptoms such as a fast or slow heart beat, passing out,
certain types of heart failure, and risk factors for sudden
death. Treatments for heart rhythmproblems can include
pacemakers, defibrillators, ablations, and medications,
among other options.
Kootenai Health andHeart Clinics Northwest currently
have three physicians that specialize in heart rhythm
services: Dr. Lessmeier; Eteri Byazrova, M.D.; and Donald
Chilson, M.D. All see patients in our region.
“We think there are a lot of people in the region that just
haven’t been able to seek out treatment,”Dr. Lessmeier said.
“This new addition will help improve care for people in
the Inland Northwest.”
L E A R N M O R E
For more information about heart rhythm ser-
vices, visit
KootenaiHealth.org
.
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