Photography and Text by Terry “Travels with Terry” Zinn  t4z@aol.com

Often the best part of visiting a destination is splurging for an upscale gourmet meal, or two. This is the case in Miami Florida where the ambiance, service and ultimate perfect meal comes together with the BLT Prime at the National Doral Resort Hotel and dinning at the infamous South Beach Gianni Versace Villa.
Sometimes the simplest of menu items, if prepared to perfection, can be the memory you take away from a destination city. The BLT Prime at the National Doral Resort’s Filet Mignon is a prime example. Despite the Miami August heat dining outside overlooking the Big Monster golf course can be elegant for sipping your pre dinner cocktail, but soon you may want to move in to the elegant dining room with a more comfortable temperature. Sometimes the mind over thinks the body’s own thermostat and you have to concede to air condition comfort.
Moving from your preferred exterior to the interior is graciously accomplished by the congenital and efficient wait staff, who I feel agreed for their serving comfort as well, the traditional indoor dining was preferred.
You might think a good prime filet with accompanying sides, is not a complicated gourmet challenge, but when prepared with skill it can be an over the top savory satisfaction. This is the case at the BLT Prime.
Of course the accommodations at the recently renovated hotel are up to its reputation standards. If you get upgraded to an available mini suite, of two bathrooms (one huge with shower, tub, expansive double sink lavatory, and one on a more modest scale for guest), two big screen TVs, large bedroom and siting/living room, is a gracious oasis.
On another upscale over the top luxury experience, book a dinner or two at the exclusive, but accessible Villa Versace in the middle of popular South Beach. There are two dining areas in this infamous home of fashion and style designer Gianni Versace. If you are stay at any of the affordable South Beach icon hotels, it is a pleasant stroll down Ocean Drive, either on the less traveled Eastern ocean park side, or if you prefer to dodge dinners at the many outside bumped out tables on the Western side. Needless to say Ocean Drive is always a traffic lover’s delight, and in the evening even more so where many come just to drive by the pastel colored lights illuminating classic art décor architecture.
The mansion was officially named Casa Casuarina for more than a decade, where it first operated as a private club and then as a boutique hotel. It reopened in 2013 under new management. Locals still refer to it as ‘the Versace mansion’.
It is reported that Versace bought a neglected three-story, Mediterranean-style home, originally built in 1930 by Standard Oil heir Alden Freeman, and a dilapidated hotel next door in 1992 and spent $33m on renovations.
To add to the villas notoriety Versace was shot dead on its front steps by serial killer Andrew Cunanan in 1997. The 10-suite Villa by Barton G boasts a 54-foot ‘thousand mosaic’ swimming pool lined in 24-carat gold, which was designed by Versace.
You will be met by the guard at the street side gate and then you may announce yourself to your hostess coming out of the main entrance. You will be invited to sit in the patio area, a formality even though you have previously made your dining reservations which are strictly required. You will be told no cameras are allowed and so you are instructed to check such at the reception desk. Cel phone cameras are currently allowed although standard cameras are not. In time you are escorted to your table, past an elaborate interior courtyard with fountain and past the intimate cocktail bar. By now you know you are somewhere special.
The interior dining room is almost oppressive with its intricate walls of rock and tile mosaics. The mood is brooding and your fellow room diners explode your imagination when you conger up what might be their history. The outside terrace overlooking the Roman villa styled pool and cabana area is the delight of South Beach. You almost hate to order your meal in anticipation of its finish and your need to leave. Again a perfect beef filet is an exquisite choice. If you are offered a dinner salad to start off, be warned the size is gigantic and so is the variety of greens.
A Martini toast to Gianni and this Villa is a must, to pay tribute to a man of means and his open to the dining public of his South Beach Villa. While an upscale dining experience may not be in your travel budget, but is there a price for an over the top memory you recall year after year?
Editor’s Note: Terry Zinn is past president of the International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association.

Mr. Terry Zinn – Travel Editor
Past President: International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association
http://realtraveladventures.com/author/zinn/
www.new.okveterannews.com – www.martinitravels.com

January typically begins with the best of intentions. Shed a few pounds. Hit the gym religiously. Sound familiar?
But while many make resolutions, most fail to follow through, with fewer than one in 10 achieving their goals. The key to being one of those who succeeds, says Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation President Stephen Prescott, M.D., is to make goals that are both reasonable and quantifiable.
“People often say, ‘I want to lose 25 pounds,’ or ‘I want to eat better.’ Those are both laudable aims,” said Prescott. “The problem is, one is awfully ambitious, and the other is almost terminally vague.”
If you overreach with your goals—like trying to drop 25 pounds—an early misstep or bump in the road can derail you quickly. “Then the task will feel impossible, and the natural reaction is to give up,” said Prescott.
For a better shot at a healthy 2017, he suggests mapping out smaller, achievable goals to get the ball rolling.
So instead of pledging to lose 25 pounds, said Prescott, set a goal to lose two pounds in January. “When you succeed, you’ll feel great and have the motivation to keep going with two more pounds in February, then March and so on,” he said. “After 12 months, you could end up dropping those 25 pounds by tackling the goal in increments. Short-term markers can translate to long-term success.”
When it comes to improving your diet, Prescott suggests a similar approach.
Start with a specific, manageable goal, like giving up sugary drinks for a month. If you achieve this, then build on it in February by also pledging to add a green vegetable to your plate every day. Over time, these small adjustments can lead to big changes.
For the best chance of success, Prescott recommends taking on a single resolution at a time. It’s a lesson he learned from personal experience.
“When I resolved to lose weight and improve my fitness level a few years ago, I found it was really difficult to exercise while I was also dieting,” said Prescott. “It worked much better when I shifted my focus to losing weight alone. Then, after I dropped 15 pounds, I got serious about fitness.”
“You only have so much willpower and self-discipline, so don’t stretch yourself too thin,” he said. “Choose the resolution that is most important to you and focus on that one.”

You’ve heard of a two-for-one sale, but what about a two-for-one eye surgery?
It takes critical coordination and two skilled surgeons, but doctors at Dean McGee Eye Institute are combining cataract and retina surgeries into one combined procedure. It’s an approach that is easier on the patient, more cost effective and can improve outcomes, too. In the end, it is helping restore patients’ vision so that they can more quickly get back to the things in life they love most. For Ed Brandt III, that was reading to his grandkids.
“My four-year-old granddaughter was over, and we were sitting in the back. She brought a book over, sat in my lap and said, ‘Grampy, can you read this for me?’ I opened the book and I just couldn’t read it,” Brandt said.
A trip to the Dean McGee Eye Institute revealed why. Brandt had a detached retina.
“If you think of the eye like a camera, your lens is the lens of the camera and the retina is kind of like the film,” said Dr. Vinay Shah, a retina specialist with Dean McGee. “When you have a retinal detachment that means the film of the camera has come loose and we have to put it back in place surgically.”
For Brandt, who had undergone procedures on his eyes before, that might have meant another three surgeries; the first to re-attach the retina and place a tiny oil bubble to hold the retina in place while it heals; a second surgery to remove the oil bubble; and then, since it is common for a cataract to form after retina surgery, he would need a third surgery to address that issue. Brandt was pleased to learn that two of those surgeries could be combined into one. Not only was it more convenient for him, but he also learned that the procedure could enhance his overall outcome.
“A large percentage of patients who have retina surgery will develop a cataract. So six months later, they are looking at surgery again. So if we can go ahead and take out the natural lens, replacing it with an implant lens and do the retina surgery at the same time, it is much easier on the patient and his or her family,” said Dr. Ralph Hester, a cataract surgeon with Dean McGee. “More importantly, though, the retina surgeon wants the clearest possible view to visualize the finer details of the retina.”
“The retina is a less-than-one-millimeter-thin membrane in the back of your eye. So to work on that, you want optimal visibility,” Shah explained.
Accomplishing the combined cataract-retina surgery requires a lot of coordination. Two surgeons and their teams as well as two sets of surgical equipment must all be in place.
“The patient does not move. We move,” Shah said. “So it has to be carefully orchestrated. At the Dean McGee Eye Institute, we have set aside particular times of the week just for these types of combination procedures.”
With one trip to the operating room, patient safety is improved and there also are cost savings with the added bonus of less time away from work.
“It’s not about the money, though. It’s about the patient,” Hester explained. “For the patient, this is a big deal. If you can package this into one operation, they are not scheduling time off work multiple times and getting their loved ones to transport them to and from the surgery center multiple times. It makes a big difference.”
Ultimately, Hester and Shah added, it is about changing somebody’s life, restoring their vision and helping them get back to the things they love doing most, like reading to grandchildren.
“There are Braille books and audio books, but there is no way that I could ever replace having a grandchild sitting in my lap and being able to read to him or her. I can do that now. I can see, and I can read. It makes a world of difference to me,” Brandt said.
To learn more about the combination cataract-retina surgery, visit www.DMEI.org

Betty Hatcher, a resident at The Fountains at Canterbury in Oklahoma City, earned an honorable mention spot in a national art calendar competition hosted by Watermark Retirement Communities.
The national calendar, created by Watermark Retirement Communities which manages The Fountains of Canterbury, is designed to be a source of inspiration for all those who receive it. Pieces of art submitted for the competition included sculpture, needlepoint, oil and watercolor paintings and mixed-media work. The Expressions art calendar is distributed nationwide and celebrates active aging and the arts.
Hatcher’s cross-stitching was selected as one of 24 honorable mentions for the 2017 Watermark Expressions art calendar out of entries from 39 Watermark communities across the United States.
Hatcher began learning needlework from her mother at a young age. She went on to use her skills as a member of the Oklahoma City Embroiderers Guild for more than 20 years. Her favorite thing about cross-stitching is the multitude of colors and watching a piece transform into artwork. Today, Hatcher is 98-years-old and continues her love of cross-stitching by creating knitted caps for adults and babies as well as baby blankets.
“The Fountains at Canterbury is home to many talented individuals who thrive each day through continuing their life’s passions and discovering new ones,” said Becky Strong, director of community life at The Fountains at Canterbury. “Betty is an incredible artist and we are proud to see her receive national recognition for her talent and hard work.”
The piece was first judged as part of a local competition among residents at The Fountains at Canterbury. Three local experts narrowed down the pieces and sent the five best on to the national competition. Final selections to be featured in the calendar were made at the Watermark Retirement Communities’ national resource center in Tucson, Arizona.
The calendar is available to the public at no charge while supplies last. If you would like a calendar, please call (405) 381-8165.
The Fountains at Canterbury is dedicated to being the first choice in senior living, providing a continuum of care including independent living, assisted living, memory care, innovative rehabilitation therapies and skilled care. The Fountains at Canterbury is managed by Watermark Retirement Communities and is committed to creating an extraordinary community where people thrive. To learn more, please call (405) 381-8165 or go online to www.watermarkcommunities.com.

story and photos provided

This holiday season, Susan Abrahamsen says she is especially grateful. In addition to having a loving family and a successful 30-year career in health care, Abrahamsen is a breast cancer survivor.
“It was surreal,” said Abrahamsen of her diagnosis. “All of a sudden, everything changes.”
Abrahamsen learned she had stage two breast cancer. in February. By March, she began weekly rounds of chemotherapy.
“In the beginning, it was easy to keep my illness hidden from my patients,” said Abrahamsen. “I just poured myself into my work, but as I started losing more hair, my patients could tell something was going on.”
For nearly the last two years, Abrahamsen has worked as an advanced practice registered nurse and certified nurse practitioner in the telemedicine program at Mercy Hospital El Reno. She takes care of patients in the hospital, while helping to relay important information about her patients to physicians in Oklahoma City using a television screen with two-way audio and video technology. She often works with Dr. Daniel Pascucci.
“I just remember her being very shaken when she told me she had been diagnosed with cancer,” said Dr. Pascucci. Despite the diagnosis, he said it was hard to keep her away from work. “Her first priority has always been our patients, and even as she was going through a health scare of her own, she did whatever she could to continue taking care of them.”
Dr. Pascucci said Abrahamsen’s outlook on her illness and recovery is now inspiring his own practice in medicine.
“It is humbling to be able to see somebody live out the Mercy mission of bringing to life the healing ministry of Jesus in such a selfless way,” he said. “To see her faith in the Lord guide her through that and give her peace while she continued to care for patients has been very eye-opening.”
Following surgery and now daily radiation treatments, Abrahamsen hasn’t been able to work since September, but she still believes that she has been “very blessed” throughout this journey.
“It is a different feeling being on the other side of care, but it’s helped me connect on a much deeper level with my patients, and I understand better what they are feeling,” she said. “When my patient’s started realizing my diagnosis, they would often offer support and encouragement, even when I was the one taking care of them. There are good people in El Reno.”
Abrahamsen will finish her final round of radiation two days after Christmas. She plans to return to work at Mercy Hospital El Reno by New Year’s Day.

A former Tulsa insurance agent was charged Thursday with embezzling more than $64,000. The charges are the result of a joint investigation by the Oklahoma Insurance Department and the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office. The Oklahoma Department of Securities also assisted with the case.
“I have zero tolerance for agents who break the law,” said Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak. “Insurance-related crimes often lead to higher premiums for everyone. I commend the excellent work done by our Anti-Fraud Unit and the Attorney General’s Office on this case. These charges send a message that crimes like this will be discovered and the perpetrators will be prosecuted.”
Michael W. Hefner, 47, is accused of transferring money from a company bank account to a second bank account only he controlled. The company bank account was only supposed to be used to deposit premium payments Hefner collected before the funds were remitted to the insurer. Investigators found more than a dozen illegal transactions between January 2012 and May 2015. Hefner spent the money at casinos, grocery stores and gas stations. He also used it to pay bills for personal loans, utilities, child care, a storage unit and auto insurance.
The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office will serve as lead prosecutors in this case. Hefner has been charged with 15 counts of embezzlement. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.
About the Oklahoma Insurance Department
The Oklahoma Insurance Department, an agency of the State of Oklahoma, is responsible for the education and protection of the insurance-buying public and for oversight of the insurance industry in the state.

by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

Growing up with four siblings, Christmas was always a very special time for Sharon Smith-Davis, RN. Lots of fun, lots of games and lots of family always made the season one she would look forward to all year long.
Christmas in the Smith-Davis household meant attending Midnight Mass before coming home to eat and open presents.
It was a night filled with wonderment – and to Smith-Davis – one bursting with magic.
That’s why decades later the Norman Regional Health System nurse decided she needed to capture that magic and pass it on by writing her first book, The Legend of the Reindeer Shoes.
“I tapped into something I had been thinking about,” she said. “I just wanted to leave behind for future generations some good, old-fashioned Christmas magic.”
The Legend of the Reindeer Shoes is a tribute to the tradition of that Christmas magic. This delightful story chronicles the preparation and journey of Santa and his reindeer on Christmas Eve and introduces Jingle, the North Pole’s blacksmith.
According to the legend, the reindeer need shoes on their hooves before they can leave on their famous flight. During the trip their shoes are in frequent need of repair and replacing if lost.
Jingle is there to attend to their needs and assure that the reindeer have a full set of shoes on their hooves for the job ahead.
The story reveals that the reindeer shoe itself is a magical source and if you are lucky enough to find one and hang it from your Christmas tree, you too will experience a little bit of good old fashioned Christmas magic.
Smith-Davis wants everyone to make Christmas Eve a memorable family tradition but it took a devastating accident to settle her down long enough to put what was in her head and her heart down onto paper.
Smith-Davis had long written poetry just for herself but a professional barrel riding accident in 1997 on her sport’s largest stage that unsaddled her from her best friend.
The five-time National Finals Rodeo competitor was separated briefly from riding due to a personal injury and found herself alone with her thoughts.
Looking to occupy her time, she turned her attention to writing a book. Her leg fracture was long healed by the time she completed her labor of love.
It took an entire year from start to finish to complete the book.
They say write what you know and Smith-Davis did.
The reindeer’s eyes are drawn from one of her best quarterhorses.
The reindeer shoes were originally forged by a six-time world champion blacksmith and then sent onto a toy factory to create the molds.
When she’s not working you can find Smith-Davis reading her book at local schools.
“I always ask my kids ‘did my book make you smile,’” said Smith-Davis, who still competes locally. “When I see that smile it’s all good.”
“My big hope for it is to maybe one day be made into a traditional Christmas movie.”
Labors of love can be expensive. She poured $20,000 into the venture through illustration and publishing costs alone.
But it’s all worth it to her.
It was years later Smith-Davis realized how much her mother, a registered nurse herself, put into the whole night before getting up early to work her shift on Christmas Day.
It was just one of the memories that came to her when her mother passed away last week.
That selfless love is part of the season to Smith-Davis, who already has her thoughts swirling around her next book, an Easter theme to go with her love of rabbits.
When she’s not writing she’s working at one of Norman Regional’s campus as a flex nurse, drawing a new assignment, new unit and new campus each shift.
“I love nursing,” Smith-Davis said. “I love the science part of it. I like maintaining healthcare standards and assuring that people get quality care.”
From home health to supervisor of a medical surgical floor Smith-Davis has worked in every setting outside of women’s and children’s services during her nursing career.
After 35 years she can recover a heart or take pretty much any post-op patient that comes her way.
And she still loves it.
“I love my boss,” Smith-Davis said. “I just like – as the work implies – the flexibility. You don’t go to the same place every day. I learn something new every day and I’m amongst the most experienced people that are awesome to work with. And we’re blessed to have the quality of doctors we have.”
“I love it all.”
You can buy the Legend of the Reindeer Shoes book and a magical pair of reindeer shoes online at www.reindeershoes.com. You can also contact her directly through the website.
And her greatest hope is that your family will make its own holiday tradition and the magic returns each and every year.

Bone and Joint Hospital at St. Anthony is the first in Oklahoma to offer the Mako Total Knee procedure. Performed using the Mako Robotic-Arm Assisted Surgery System, the Mako system is a surgeon-controlled robotic arm technology that enables more accurate alignment and placement of implants.
The Mako Robotic-Arm Assisted Surgery System provides three dimensional pre-surgical planning, as it details the technique for bone preparation as well as a customized approach. “The Mako Total Knee procedure is an innovative technique available to patients who suffer from degenerative knee diseases such as osteoarthritis. It enables surgeons to personalize the total knee procedure to achieve optimal results,” said Corey Ponder, M.D., orthopedic surgeon at Bone and Joint Hospital at St. Anthony.
Using the robotic-arm technology allows the surgeon to precisely execute the procedure based on an individualized CT scan of each patient’s own unique anatomy. During the Mako Total Knee procedure the robotic-arm assisted surgery system provides visualization of the joint and biochemical data, to guide the bone preparation and implant positioning to match the pre-surgical plan.
“Bone and Joint Hospital at St. Anthony is proud to be the first in Oklahoma to have this innovative technology. It is part of our commitment to provide our community with the best care possible,” said Dr. Ponder.

story and photos by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

Norman has and always will be a college town.
Today more than 31,000 students come to Norman each year to further their education.
As a result, Norman’s population has grown more than 50 percent to nearly 120,000 residents since 1990.
For the past 50 years seniors like Jim Jinkins have paid for that growth, supporting and paying for municipal bonds, school bonds and keeping dollars local and paying city sales tax.
And it was senior voters like Jinkins who threw their support behind the Norman Forward initiative that in October 2015 resulted in a half-percent sales tax increase intended to fund a number of quality of life issues.
One of those items listed on the ballot was a new, standalone senior center that would replace Norman’s current facility, housed in the city’s original 8,000-square-foot public library built in 1929.
But now Norman seniors feel they’re the ones standing alone and are accusing some city officials of trying to do an end-around with funds that should be used to build a new facility.
NORMAN FORWARD
“Seniors worked their butts off to get that initiative passed,” said Jinkins, who spent four hours on election day holding a sign on a street corner campaigning for the measure. “It passes and a couple months later they start talking about the budget again so we start going to the study sessions of the council meetings and they start saying ‘We don’t have any money. It’s going to take the entire $159 million to fund these Norman Forward projects.’”
“We said ‘Wait a minute. We’re a Norman Forward project.’”
City leaders indicated they had been considering using bond funds from a previous bond issue to fund renovating the existing Norman Public Library for use as a senior center.
That would be done after the library moved into a new building paid for through the sales tax increase.
Voters like Jinkins felt they secured a standalone senior center by passing the Norman Forward initiative.
“There’s not an asterisk next to it, there’s not any language that says if there’s money available,” Jinkins said about building a senior center. “Everybody I know that voted on it (thought they were voting) for a senior center.”
In March 2016, an Oklahoma not-for-profit corporation by the name 21st Century Norman Seniors Association was formed and Jinkins was elected president.
He says there are now more than 400 active members.
With seniors encompassing nearly 20 percent of Norman’s total population the group feels a significant segment of Norman residents are supporting the call for a free-standing senior center.
For now, Jinkins says the city is only offering yet another renovated former library to serve seniors’ needs or trying to float yet another bond issue to voters specifically for a new senior center.
Jinkins worries about voter fatigue and the fact voters have already voted twice to fund a new senior center.
The senior group says the plan of moving into the existing library does a disservice to seniors on multiple fronts.
Seniors and City of Norman staff would share the building and end up competing for space and facilities. Neither could expand as their programs grow.
Problems with parking and traffic flow cannot be resolved.
A shared parking lot with City offices plus the Municipal Court would create a bottleneck and there would also not be enough covered parking spaces that a senior center requires.
Senior centers in Edmond, Shawnee, and Midwest City have this.
The existing library lacks space for kitchen facilities. The staff of the kitchen at the present senior center would like to move to the new senior center, and most people agree that the new center should house the kitchen as the center is the only source for many seniors’ meals.
The option Jinkins’ group favors is building a new facility – which would cost in the neighborhood of $8-9 million – at the nearby city-owned Andrews Park.
The site would provide plenty of adequate parking plus be located across the street from the new library – benefitting from library programming and public resources located on site.
Association Associate Vice President Nadine Jewell penned a letter to the editor of The Norman Transcript that read, in part:
“Norman Forward is certainly needed in our community, and seniors do not think they are being greedy asking for a standalone center. While many projects, like Westwood, can only be used for 3 months of the year, a senior center can be used the year around. Surely, Norman cares enough for its seniors to find enough excess Norman Forward funds to build one standalone.”
With already a fair measure of support from existing council members, one thing working in the group’s favor is the fact City Council seats in the odd-numbered wards will be up for election this coming February.
Norman Seniors will host a candidates forum before the election so that you can meet the candidates, ask your questions, and hear their positions.
In the meantime, Jinkins is urging all interested Norman seniors to call their City Council representative and voice their opinions.
You can find out more information online at www.normanseniors.org as well as the group’s Facebook page listed as Friends for a 21st Century Senior Citizen’s Center.
“I think they just really wanted us to go away and they didn’t think we would get this far,” Jinkins said. “It is our hope that the Council will identify a funding source for a standalone center that does not involve yet another vote of the people.”

Recently Released Results Indicate the HeartMate 3 LVAS is a Promising New Tool for Patients Suffering from Advanced Heart Failure

St. Jude Medical Inc., a global medical device company, recently announced results of the MOMENTUM 3 U.S. IDE Clinical Study, comparing the HeartMate 3™ LVAS (Left Ventricular Assist System) to the HeartMate II™ LVAS in treating advanced stage heart failure.
The Advanced Cardiac Care program at INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center is a proud participant in the study. In fact, INTEGRIS was the very first facility in the United States to implant this new technology in 2015. Currently, INTEGRIS remains a leading implanter of the HeartMate 3 LVAS in the country.
The HeartMate 3 LVAS is a small, implantable mechanical circulatory support device for advanced heart failure patients who are awaiting transplantation or are not candidates for heart transplantation. The HeartMate 3 LVAS restores blood flow with full MagLev™ technology, which allows the device’s rotor to be “suspended” by magnetic forces. This design aims to reduce trauma to blood passing through the pump, thereby minimizing complications and improving outcomes for patients.
“The early results of the MOMENTUM 3 are encouraging. This trial is the single most important study in the world of heart pumps at this time,” said James Long, M.D., Ph.D., cardiovascular surgeon and director of the INTEGRIS Advanced Cardiac Care program. “It has been the fastest enrolling trial in this field, indicating the importance of this therapy and the ever-increasing need for new generation heart pumps to treat people with end-stage heart failure when there are no other options.”
The MOMENTUM 3 U.S. IDE Clinical Study is the largest LVAD trial in the world following more than 1,000 patients for a period of up to two years. The data just released to the public shows the six-month results of the first 294 patients enrolled. The patients receiving the HeartMate 3 LVAS had an 86.2 percent survival rate with freedom from disabling stroke and reoperation to repair or replace the device.
“The Heartmate 3 LVAS represents the continued advancement in therapy options available for patients living with debilitating heart failure,” said Doug Horstmanshof, M.D., heart failure cardiologist and co-director of the INTEGRIS Advanced Cardiac Care program. “INTEGRIS, working with a network of partners, is the only center in our state and surrounding regions with the ability to offer this exciting new option on an ongoing investigational basis.”
INTEGRIS holds a leadership role in the MOMENTUM trial, with such centers as Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, the Duke Heart Center, the University of Michigan and Barnes Jewish Hospital. Drs. Long and Horstmanshof joined in the authorship of a current article on the study in The New England Journal of Medicine.