January 2020 – Here for Life

See snapshots spanning 14 decades of care at Hennepin Healthcare

January 17, 2020

With the start of a new year (and decade!), it’s easy to forget how far Hennepin Healthcare has come since first opening its doors over 130 years ago, then named Minneapolis City Hospital. With that in mind, we put together a timeline to showcase some of the accomplishments, historical events, firsts and changes spanning across the last 14 decades that brought us to where we are today.

Although we couldn’t possibly cover all of the hundreds, if not thousands, of important moments in the history of Hennepin Healthcare, here are a selection of some of the highlights from the past few decades. (more…)

ECMO: Improving chances for survival when heart, lungs fail

January 13, 2020

A knock on his neighbor’s door may have saved Ahmed Warfa’s life. On November 11, the 49-year-old was experiencing chest pain when he went to his neighbor for help.

“That’s the last thing I remember,” he said. “Until I woke up in the hospital.”

Warfa doesn’t recall making the initial 911 call before he passed out, but thankfully his neighbor picked up the phone and called 911 again to make sure help was on the way.

When Hennepin EMS paramedics arrived, they found him with a weak pulse and a shallow breathing pattern. As Warfa was being placed in the ambulance he went into full cardiac arrest. Paramedics gave him several shocks to restart his heart but those were unsuccessful. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was performed throughout the entire trip to HCMC, but when he arrived at the emergency department he still had no pulse and his heart was quivering, a life-threatening cardiac arrest rhythm called ventricular fibrillation. Warfa’s best chance for survival was Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation life support – otherwise known as ECMO. (more…)

Hospice care is palliative care, but not all palliative care is hospice care

January 10, 2020

Confused? The terms “palliative care” and “hospice care” are often used interchangeably when, in fact, they are not the same thing. Each has a different focus but they both share the same goal: bring comfort and relief to the patient and family.

Palliative care: comfort care for illness

This type of care uses an interdisciplinary team approach in order to improve the quality of life for the patient and family. The approach is holistic, caring for the physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, legal and advance care planning needs of the patient. This team is specially trained in palliative care and consist of doctors, nurses, social workers and other specialists. They will work with the patient’s primary doctors to provide this “extra layer of support” as the patient faces serious or life-threatening diseases. Everyone will work to manage the symptoms of the illness to keep the patient comfortable. (more…)

TBI and heart attack survivor: “I’m blessed”

January 8, 2020

Back in 2013 when he was asked to build a giant heart for a Cassadee Pope music video, Ricky Price never imagined that six years later his own heart would require a bit of reconstruction.

“I had a heart attack and four stents placed in November,” the Nashville native explained during a recent visit to Hennepin Healthcare’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Program, where a brief anatomy class is part of each patient’s rehab. (more…)