March 2021

In the News: Adam Betz, M.D., discusses impact ECMO treatment during the pandemic

TULSA, Okla. — In celebration of National Doctors’ Day, Green Country is home to some of the nation's best physicians.

When it comes to top-of-the-line treatments, the Oklahoma Heart Institute is becoming known for its life-saving measures by providing a machine used in only three centers in the state.

"So, it's a pretty rare thing,” Dr. Adam Betz, medical director of pulmonary ECMO at the Oklahoma Heart Institute, said.

Doctors' Day profile: Frank Gaffney, M.D. goes from selling furniture to healing hearts

(March 30 is National Doctors’ Day. Oklahoma Heart Institute would like to thank our physicians for the dedication and passion they show for their patients. In honor of National Doctors’ Day, we would like to noninvasive cardiologist Frank Gaffney, D.O.)

Frank Gaffney, M.D., has established himself as a noninvasive cardiologist at Oklahoma Heart Institute for the past 16 years. But his journey into the medical field is anything but typical for the New York native who began his professional career in the retail industry.

Tips for helping children adjust to daylight saving time

Ready or not, daylight saving time is coming up on Sunday, March 14.

Setting those clocks forward to “spring” up an hour can be an adjustment in sleep schedules for adults, much less children. Michael Newnam, M.D., is a specialist in the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders with Oklahoma Heart Institute and director of sleep medicine at Hillcrest Medical Center and Hillcrest Hospital Cushing. Newnam said the most important element in adjusting to an altered sleep schedule comes down to one principle.

PFO procedure helps patient suffering from migraines, small strokes

Kyla Jones had been dealing with debilitating migraines for quite some time and even experienced small strokes.

“I was having multiple migraines a month,” Jones said. “They were lasting days on end. I would literally go from one to another.”

Along with terrible headaches, her list of symptoms progressed as time passed. Jones eventually had a blood clot go to the retina of her right eye, which caused her to lose a portion of her vision. At one point, Jones had transient loss of parts of the left side of her body including her arm.

Is it possible to eat nutritious, budget-friendly meals during quarantine?

(March is National Nutrition Month and to commemorate the occasion, Hillcrest Medical Center and Oklahoma Heart Institute dietitian Andrea Shotton will share her expertise on the topic of nutrition in a pandemic through a series of weekly blogs. In the first edition, Shotton discusses if it is possible to eat nutritious meals that are also budget friendly.)

Going into quarantine has become all too common during the pandemic.

Structure and Accountability Lead to Weight-Loss Success Story

In 2019, Grant Brown, 42, was in poor health and couldn’t shake the feeling that his current lifestyle may not allow him to be around for his family in the future. Just as those thoughts were closing in, his daughter heard about Oklahoma Heart Institute’s Weight Loss & Wellness Center. A nursing student at Oral Roberts University, Brown’s daughter immediately thought of her father when she heard a cardiologist discuss the program in one of her lectures.