Running a hospital is a significant responsibility, and COVID-19 intensified the situation by leaps and bounds. So Brian Thomas, President & CEO of Jefferson Regional, chalked up his high blood pressure and breathing issues to stress. “The last couple of years have been extremely stressful for most everybody. I had experienced a couple of episodes of breathing issues and my blood pressure was higher than it should be, but we’ve been monitoring it pretty carefully. With my history of asthma, we kind of assumed it might have been a respiratory problem.” However, the situation did not improve with medication alone. “My family physician and my cardiologist had tried all the tricks, and to their credit they wanted to do the next level of testing. I had a stress test, and even though I made it to the end of the race, to quote the doctors ‘my EKG showed otherwise’. To my surprise, I ended up having a cardiac catheterization.”
Jefferson regional Cardiologist Nick Willis, M.D. performed angioplasty and opened up and repaired a vessel. “I’m sure everyone is nervous coming in for a procedure. I’ve been lucky – I‘ve never had a lot done but lab work – so I was a little concerned as all patients are. But the cath lab team treated me just as they do every other patient and did a fantastic job.”
“The nurses were great,” Thomas continued, “and they showed so much compassion, not just to me but to my wife. I always appreciate the kindness shown to my family more than to myself. We were super impressed with the entire team, and when I was out of recovery, I went upstairs and stayed overnight on 3 NW. Of course, that team took fantastic care of me, too. I wouldn’t have expected anything less, but it was different to be in that bed myself. I already had a great appreciation for the staff and team because I’ve heard so much positive patient feedback, but when you see it firsthand, you get a different perspective. Everyone was exceptional, from dietary to lab … across the board, it was just an amazing experience for me.”
Now Thomas is back at work and back in tip top shape. He’s exercising more, eating a better diet and paying closer attention to his health – something he encourages everyone to do. “I would advise that people pay very close attention to what their body is telling them. Just because you may be stressed or busy, or your anxiety may be a little high, make sure you see your doctor if you don’t feel 100 percent and not wait too long. I could have easily reached a point where I would have been in trouble if I had waited much longer, and I didn’t know that. It was an eye-opening experience in many ways, and I’m so lucky to have the Jefferson Regional team on my side. To watch our employees on the front lines, do what they do every day, it’s just incredible.”
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