Cardiac rehab nurse Helen Hackney, R.N., checks Jeannette Kellner’s blood pressure while she exercises.

It’s been said that home is where the heart is. For cardiac rehab patient Jeannette Kellner, Western Baptist is a close second.

“Cardiac rehab is my second home,” said Kellner, a heart patient from Paducah.

When Kellner experienced excruciating pain in the middle of her chest this year, she phoned Western Baptist’s Chest Pain Hotline where a registered nurse advised her to go immediately to the emergency room.

MELVIN CROFT

An abnormal EKG led cardiologist Lowell Roberts, M.D., to perform a heart cath where he found multiple blockages. He placed a stent in Kellner’s artery and later referred her for cardiac rehabilitation. After three months, Kellner chose to stay with it. “I’ve lost weight, gained energy and feel much better,” she said. Kellner said Western Baptist was a good choice for her heart care. “The facility and the staff are like family to me,” she said.

Kellner isn’t alone in her sentiments. Cardiac catheterization lab supervisor Melvin Croft, an 18- year employee at Western Baptist, believes the new heart center is superb.

“What a feeling to be part of Baptist’s heart history,” said Croft. “For years, Western Baptist has provided the area with quality heart care. Now we have a wonderful new building that gives dedicated physicians and staff access to leading-edge heart technologies and advances.”

You can learn more about the services offered at the new heart center by visiting westernbaptist.com or phoning Baptist Health Line at (270) 575-2918.

Jared S. Fogle of Subway diet fame visits with Heart Rock Café luncheon speakers Martha Hinton, Annie Tynes and Carla Berry during the heart center’s grand opening.

The $20 million, 79,000-square-foot heart center features four cardiac cath labs, echocardiology, nuclear cardiology, stress testing, cardiac rehabilitation and an auditorium for educational events. A new rooftop heliport allows distant patients to be transported quickly to the Chest Pain Center for lifesaving intervention.