Morgan Krauter, Nurse Practitioner, Regional Cardiac Care Program at Southlake Regional Health Centre
Heart Failure Care: An Art and a Science
While innovation drives us, patient experience is really the heart of everything we do at Southlake. It’s a big part of why my role exists at all.
I started at Southlake three years ago, in a role unlike any other. While most hospitals have dedicated, separate positions for inpatients and outpatients, my role is a hybrid of both. It means I can better support patients through their entire journey, giving patients and families a familiar face they know and trust to guide them through every step of the process, whether at the hospital or at home. I care for those dealing with heart failure, as well as patients for whom heart failure is not the primary reason for their hospitalization. With so many factors at play, caring for them is not just a science, it’s an art.
The heart we bring to the job drives us to be better, to find new ways of delivering care, and explore innovative alternatives to enhance what we already do well.
Before virtual meetings had become part of everyone’s daily life, I was already using it to start the Virtual Heart Function Program for patients in long term care, who often fall through the gaps when it comes to receiving follow-up care. In April, I’m also excited to be leading the launch of our new Heart Failure Medication Titration Clinic. Often on multiple medications, this clinic will help our patients reach their optimal dosage faster using remote home monitoring tools, without the challenges and delays that can occur with in-person follow-up appointments. For patients, this will mean better symptom management and the best opportunity for recovery.
We’re doing amazing things to enhance care for heart failure patients, and donations make a difference. In fact, that’s why support of our hospital’s highest priority needs is so important. Undesignated gifts from our communities give us the flexibility we need to support the vital resources that we need to do our jobs well. It can support special products, technology and initiatives that aren’t funded by the government, including the CardioMEM. This tiny device smaller than a paperclip is implanted through a minimally-invasive procedure and allows remote monitoring, alerting us to heart irregularities months before they become critical.
Donations can change lives in a very real way. Whether it’s letting our patients living with heart failure have more chapters in their lives, or helping them write that final chapter, the work we do together matters. Sometimes donor support means we can add time to the clock. And sometimes, it helps us give people meaningful experiences with the time they have left.
This Heart Month I’m grateful to everyone who supports Southlake, and helps people like me ensure quality of life for the patients who depend on me. We do this because we love it. And we’re incredibly grateful to the people who share our vision to always be doing better by our patients.
Southlake’s Regional Cardiac Care Program serves roughly 10,000 patients each year from across York Region, South Simcoe and Dufferin Counties, and as far north as Muskoka. As one of the largest heart programs in Ontario, it offers cardiac surgery, interventional cardiology, electrophysiology, advanced heart failure management and specialists in echocardiography, providing advanced and emergency care. To learn more or to donate in support of Southlake’s most urgent needs, please visit southlake.ca/donate.
