Kaiser Permanente Northern California members with complex cardiac illnesses, such as Eric Wallace (pictured), have quick access to a team of highly experienced specialists.

Eric Wallace knew something was wrong leading up to Christmas 2014 when he began to feel faint and often needed to sit down quickly.

The 30-year Kaiser Permanente member had never been hospitalized — so at first he ignored the red flags.

“Real men don’t go to the ER,” he joked.

But that’s exactly where Wallace, 71, found himself that winter, as his heart rate began to shoot up to as high as 180 beats per minute, more than double its normal rate.

The normally physically active financial adviser was increasingly worried, especially when a trip to Mexico ended with dizziness and nausea, necessitating a wheelchair ride to and from the plane home.

Wallace met with his primary care physician at the Kaiser Permanente Gilroy Medical Offices, where he received medication to stabilize what was diagnosed as atrial fibrillation, commonly called an irregular heartbeat, and care he described as “unbelievably great.”

He also received a quick referral to the Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Cardiac Specialty Care Center.

Led by Charlie Young, MD,  chief of Cardiac Electrophysiology for Kaiser Permanente Northern California, the Santa Clara team provides daily consultation to 150 Kaiser Permanente cardiologists and diagnosis of their patients throughout Northern California.

Dr. Young and the team of 17 — physicians, nurses, technologists, and physician assistants — care for about 30 patients referred to them for procedures weekly.

In April 2015, Eric Wallace was one of them.

Right People, Right Procedure, Done Right

Wallace successfully underwent an ablation, a minimally invasive, advanced procedure in which flexible wires are inserted into a patient’s groin or neck veins and threaded up into the chambers of the heart. The electrodes’ wires use heat to destroy the heart tissue causing the irregular heartbeat.

While Wallace is thrilled with his complete recovery, he remembers every kindness of his medical team.

“I felt like they were doing everything they could to identify what was going on and to offer options instead of just putting in a pacemaker,” Wallace said. “The concern for me from every single person was so clear.”

“Patients feel like they get very quick service with highly experienced specialists in the field, thanks to our integrated system that makes sharing of expertise so easy,” said Dr. Young, who has been providing cardiac care for 28 years. “Over the years we have collaborated with local academic universities in clinical research and the training of more than 40 fellows, many of whom now practice in the Bay Area.”

Dr. Young added that Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara was one of the first three hospitals in California to acquire a Niobe Magnetic Navigation System, high-tech equipment that enables non-invasive procedures to replace the major open-heart surgeries of the past. Currently, the team gets single-procedure success in nearly 90 percent of its early atrial fibrillation cases.

Two years after his own procedure, Eric Wallace’s heart rate is now stable and the dizziness is gone. He is back doing what he loves: traveling with wife Carolyn, helping his clients, and exercising at a gym near his Morgan Hill home.

“People often aren’t able to get off blood thinners like I did,” he said of being medication-free. “I had the right people selecting the right procedure, and doing it right. My care team at Kaiser Permanente gave me my life back.”

Learn more about Kaiser Permanente’s excellent cardiac care at kp.org/cardiaccare.

Do you have a story to share about your cardiac care at Kaiser Permanente? We’d love to hear from you! Please send us a brief summary in the comments section.

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