Blog

Former Hillcrest Employee Gives Back to Community in Unique Way

Karen Langston started working for Hillcrest HealthCare System in the 1970s.

“I worked as a unit secretary for a few years, left for a while then came back in 1977 and started the radiologist technologist program that was offered at the time,” said Langston.

Upon graduating from the program in 1980, Langston began working in the Catheterization lab at Hillcrest Medical Center. When Oklahoma Heart Institute opened in 2009 with a new cath lab, she moved over there where she worked until her retirement in December 2018.

“There were only five employees working in the cath... Read More »

Endocrinology Care at Oklahoma Heart Institute

Oklahoma Heart Institute provides comprehensive endocrinology care. By focusing on the needs of the patients, endocrinologists can develop individualized treatment plans. Dr. Cristin Bruns, endocrinologist at Oklahoma Heart Institute, is telling us more about the types of diseases that fall under the umbrella of endocrinology care and how she approaches diabetes care.

“As an endocrinologist, I treat individuals with hormonal disorders such as diabetes mellitus and bone diseases, as well as disorders of the thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal and pituitary and reproductive glands,” said... Read More »

The Increase of Heart Attacks in Younger People

Heart attacks in younger people are becoming increasingly more common, especially in women. This could likely be due to the increase in the prevalence of the risks factor for heart attack and stroke in young adults, according to Wayne Leimbach, M.D., medical director of Oklahoma Heart Institute.

“This was predicted to happen more than 15 years ago due to the obesity epidemic in our country,” Leimbach said.

Smoking also contributes to the upsurge because there has been an increase in the amount of women who smoke. Additionally, there has been a rise in consumption of fast food... Read More »

Dr. Wendell Williams Joins Oklahoma Heart Institute

Please join us in welcoming Wendell Williams, M.D., our new cardiologist at Oklahoma Heart Institute. He is now seeing patients at our Muskogee clinic. Williams, who is originally from St. Louis, is a third generation doctor and led a cardiology practice in St. Louis for more than 20 years before moving to Jefferson City. For the last six years, Williams has called Muskogee home and he is now looking forward to his future with Oklahoma Heart Institute.

Dr. Williams is a cardiologist who specializes in the evaluation, diagnosis, treatment and education of congestive heart failure,... Read More »

Oklahoma Woman Experiences Major Health Changes with HMR Program

Jenn Jordan has struggled with her weight since she was a teenager. For more than 25 years, she was consistently trying to figure out what to do to get to a healthy weight for her body.

“I was always the heaviest one in my family, my group of friends or just a group of people in general and it was very frustrating,” said Jordan.

Jordan was very aware that her weight was an issue. “I was always trying to find a program that would work for me,” said Jordan. “When you are carrying this weight around with you all the time, you know it’s a problem.”

Trendy diet plans were... Read More »

HMR Program Leads to Great Success for Tulsa Woman

Nora Connelly had tried what felt like every diet program on the market. While out shopping with her mother in Utica Square, she ran into an old family friend. Upon seeing her, Connelly was shocked at her appearance.

“When I ran into her, she was half the person that I’ve always known her to be,” said Connelly. “When I asked her what she had done to lose so much weight, she started telling me about the Health Management Resources (HMR) program that is offered through the Weight Loss & Wellness Center at Oklahoma Heart Institute.”

At that point in her life, Connelly knew... Read More »

Heart-Healthy Holidays: How to Celebrate Without Going Overboard

The holiday season can often be summed up in one word: indulgent. Offices are filled with gift baskets full of treats and parties are heavy on the seasonal sweets and hearty dips. While partaking in these dishes isn’t something you are doing on a daily basis, it can set you back in your diet when you are consuming more than usual.

Brook Hinton, health educator with the Weight Loss & Wellness Center at Oklahoma Heart Institute, and Susannah McCabe, registered dietitian with the Center for Diabetes Management at Hillcrest Medical Center, are sharing some helpful control strategies... Read More »

The Fish Oil Debate

Information provided by Dr. Wayne Leimbach, medical director at Oklahoma Heart Institute.

 

There always seems to be questions surrounding vitamins. Are they really beneficial to take and if so, which ones and at what dosage? Recently, fish oil has been the topic of conversation and in fact, the REDUCE-IT trial that Oklahoma Heart Institute was involved in just uncovered some interesting findings.

The REDUCE-IT trial randomized 8,179 cardiovascular (CV) risk patients with known CV disease or high risk patients with diabetes and other CV risk factors who were already on... Read More »

Tulsa Woman Celebrates Second Chance at Life After Pulmonary Hypertension Diagnosis

In September of 2017, Missy Storm and her husband were in New Orleans celebrating his birthday. At the time, Missy was struggling with walking long distances, but she thought it had something to do with getting older and being out of shape. Storm had recently retired after a 40-year career in education, but the stress her body was experiencing was different than any she had felt before.

“When we were in New Orleans, I would be walking down the street and every 30 yards or so I would have to stop to catch my breath and let my heart slow down,” said Storm. “During our travels back to... Read More »

Family Finds a Silver Lining in the Midst of Loss

Tulsa resident Glenn Harris started experiencing heart problems when visiting Australia, which led to him needing a pacemaker and defibrillator installed immediately. Upon returning to Tulsa, Harris needed to find continuing care, which is when he contacted Oklahoma Heart Institute and started seeing Dr. Wayne Leimbach, medical director, and Dr. David Sandler, director of electrophysiology.

Harris’ youngest daughter, Lauren, took him to many of his follow up appointments and rehab sessions when he first started visiting Oklahoma Heart Institute, becoming familiar with the faces... Read More »