After his wife’s life-saving heart surgery, Dave Gillis is sharing his gratitude for an extraordinary team of Centra Caregivers, a friendly, unexpected visitor who asked about his family’s experience, and high-quality heart and vascular care in Lynchburg.
Somewhere around 5:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, Dave Gillis was surprised to find himself talking with the CEO of Centra Health.
“My wife recently had heart surgery at Centra Lynchburg General Hospital and received the highest level of care from Dr. Kenneth Saum, a top-notch heart surgeon, and dedicated teams in the cath lab and cardiac surgery unit,” Dave wrote.
After the surgery, his wife, Sue, spent a week in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, “where the nurses are the best of the best — as are the physical and occupational therapists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, food servers, cleaning folks and everyone we came into contact with,” Dave added. “I hope I didn’t leave anyone out.”
On New Year’s Eve, Dave was thinking about the extraordinary care they had received when an unexpected Centra Caregiver began making rounds to check on patients and colleagues.
“New CEO Richard Tugman walked through the cardiac unit and asked how things were going,” he shared. Dave, a grateful husband, was “beyond impressed” with the “dedicated CEO with local ties.”
Centra has “amazing employees in every department, which is the foundation that is needed, and the backbone of the system,” he said. “It’s hard to pinpoint a certain person because everyone we dealt with was top-notch.”
Prior to the surgery, Dave and Sue were familiar with Centra, a not-for-profit healthcare system, and the care for heart and vascular patients. “Sue had gone to Dr. [David] Truitte for 25-plus years for this heart valve issue that wasn’t serious but something to watch,” he said. After years of careful monitoring, it was determined last year that Sue needed surgery.
Now, Dave believes things are looking up.
“She’s doing good now, gaining strength and doing a little better every day,” he said. “I think the future looks good.”
Have you or a loved one received excellent care at Centra? Saying ‘thank you’ and expressing your appreciation by sharing your personal words of gratitude can uplift your dedicated team of Caregivers, be a powerful part of the healing process, inspire generosity and impact patients.
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