Hawaii Heart Brain Center

Established in 2005, in part as a reaction to the alarming rate of heart disease on the island of Hawaii, as compared to the rest of the state. The Hawaii Heart Brain Center at North Hawaii Community Hospital offers a comprehensive set of services for cardiovascular disease and stroke prevention including screening, diagnosis, and therapy. The Center combines state-of-the art-technologies with an integrative approach designed to optimally treat the whole person. Hawaii Heart Brain Center benefits from NHCH’s affiliate relationships with Cleveland Clinic, consistently rated as the top cardiac center in the nation, and The Queen’s Medical Center on Oahu. Call the Manager Sally Kaufman,RN Cardiovascular Associate For more information, (808) 881.4462 or visit. [www.hawaiiheartbrain.org]

North Hawaii Community Hospital is a full service acute care hospital centrally located in Waimea (Kamuela) on the Big Island of Hawaii. Governed by a local board of directors, this community owned non-profit hospital opened in May 1996 and primarily serves the 30,000 residents and visitors of the northern region of the Big Island. NHCH offers a full spectrum of acute-care hospital services with a commitment to patient-centered care that treats the patient as a whole person — mind, body and spirit — in the context of family, culture and community. Designed as a "healing instrument," NHCH is fast becoming a prototype for the careful integration of select complementary healing practices with high-quality medical care.

Cleveland Clinic, located in Cleveland, Ohio, is a not-for-profit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Cleveland Clinic was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. U.S. News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation’s best hospitals in its annual “America’s Best Hospitals” survey. Approximately 1,800 full-time salaried physicians and researchers at Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Florida represent more than 100 medical specialties and subspecialties. In 2006, there were 3.1 million outpatient visits to Cleveland Clinic. Patients came for treatment from every state and from more than 80 countries. There were more than 53,000 hospital admissions to Cleveland Clinic in 2006. Cleveland Clinic’s Web site address is [www.clevelandclinic.org].

Staff
Dr Ken Riff, MD is the Executive director working with the staff to provide vision for the Heart Brain Center's initiative to provide better care to the population on Hawaii island.

Dr Jone Geimer-Flanders is the medical director of the Hawaii Heart Brain Center and a cardiologist who heads up the Cardiology Services together with Dr James Lucas, MD at the North Hawaii Community Hospital in Waimea (Kamuela) Hawaii on the big island, Hawaii. She joined the staff at the Hawaii Heart Brain Center in January 2007 and is the first practicing physician in that organization. The mission of the Hawaii Heart Brain Center is to advance the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac and neurovascular disease on the Big Island Hawaii. The community is small and remote on the island, due to is location it is one of the farthest points from tertiary medical care in the United States.

Dr Flanders practices an integrative form of cardiology and found that the environment of the North Hawaii Community Hospital was the very best fit for her and her patients. “I share the belief of many Hawaiians that the Island of Hawai`i and the five mountains area in particular is a healing place. I pay close attention to the interaction of our thoughts and feelings with the state of our health, so the idea of practicing in an environment of healing was very important to me.”

She was recruited to her position by Earl Bakken the inventor of the pacemaker and the co founder of Medtronic Corporation. The Heart Brain Institute at Cleveland Clinic has partnered with the Hawaii Heart Brain Center to aid in the development of the field of heart-brain medicine. These two institutes are the realization of Dr. Bakken's lifelong dream of promoting an integrated approach to the application of heart and brain interactions in maintaining health and preventing disease.