A person very close to me was the full beneficiary of the partnership between Columbia Memorial Hospital and Oregon Health and Science University.

Suspecting an imminent heart attack, he requested an immediate appointment with CMH’s Cardiac Department. The cardiac nurse, Susan McGuffin, determined an emergency, as the man’s pulse was down to 24. The department’s medical director, Dr. Diana Rinkevich, a professor at OHSU, ordered the immediate transfer of the patient by ambulance to OHSU for the implant of a heart pacemaker.

When the patient arrived at OHSU’s Cardiology Department, the pacemaker implant team was ready. Although no blood pressure could be determined at the customary locations of the body, and the first lead to his heart’s ventricle had to be removed and replaced with a different one, the implant of the dual-chamber pacemaker by Dr. Thomas Dewland was completed within four hours.

This community is fortunate to have a person of Dr. Rinkevich’s ability, resolve and connections at its disposal. Without her, the patient would have been a statistic in the column of heart attack victims.

Erhard Gross

Astoria