DOCTOR APPRECIATION
Today is Doctor Appreciation Day in Peterborough city and county. See more in our special 10-page section//
Peterborough has honed its cardiology program to such a degree that cardiologists can provide immediate care for lifethreatening heart emergencies, and emergency physicians can send patients with less acute illnesses home knowing they’ll be seen immediately by the cardiology service, saving patient time, hospital beds and precious resources. “That’s remarkable for any community,” says Dr. Michael Hartleib, Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) Chief of Medicine. “Many communities can’t reproduce our efficiencies and high level of care.” Hartleib is one of six cardiologists at PRHC, and has helped the cardiology program grow since moving here in 2006. This is especially important in Peterborough, he says, considering the area’s aging population. The Kawartha Cardiology Clinic (KCC) key to the success, he says. “Our quality of care is known across the province and is being increasingly recognized,” Hartleib says. He says all of this was borne out of the “visionary leadership” of Dr. Bill Hughes, who is The unique services, including a highfunctioning chest-pain clinic, congestive heart-failure clinic and a program for people with pacemakers, allows people to avoid hospitalization and get out of the hospital earlier. This frees up beds for others who need it, he says. continues to serve the program and heads the KCC. Hartleib says working at the KCC, where he is director of clinical trials, is an extension of his job at PRHC. The 49-year-old also sits on the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Council, is a board member of the Ontario Association of Cardiologists, and is the cardiology representative to the Ontario Medical Association. The community was well-served when Hartleib and his wife decided to move here from Toronto because his wife, Melinda Gooderham, is also a doctor who started a successful and growing dermatology clinic. The couple has three daughters. Hartleib says they chose Peterborough partly because of the new hospital, a growing cardiology program, and this city’s need at the time for a dermatologist. While working at PRHC, Hartleib says he has seen first-hand the importance of community donations. The catheterization lab, for example, is central to heart care as it’s here that doctors diagnose and treat heart disease such as stenting blocked arteries. Donations to the PRHC Foundation make all of this possible as patients used to have to travel to Toronto for such procedures. “There’d be no cath lab and no stenting without donations,” he says. High-tech equipment in this lab, funded by the Foundation, also helps him save more lives. A recent acquisition was a 3D echocardiography machine that offers “spectacularly” high-resolution images of a heart including a better view of valve infections and congenital abnormalities. “This has exponentially increased our ability to diagnose and treat heart disease,” he says. PRHC performs up to 2,000 interventional cardiac procedures each year and 900 PCI procedures, better known as “cardiac stenting.” Although much cardiac care is now offered at PRHC, there’s a heart procedure for which patients must travel: an invasive procedure to find and treat rhythm abnormalities, that’s performed in Kingston. “Our goal is to eventually have that done in Peterborough,” Hartleib says. In all, people who donate to the PRHC Foundation are helping more patients with heart disease across the region avoid lengthy travel for care. “We absolutely appreciate their generosity as we couldn’t run a program of such high quality without their support,” he says. “And we are continuing to expand, offering more lifesaving care closer to home.”
Cardiologist Dr. Michael Hartleib Helped Grow Program that Saves Hospital Time, Resources