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Straub Benioff: The Pulse of Cardiac Care

Some of Straub Benioff’s expert cardiac team celebrate their 1,000th TAVR procedure. FROM LEFT: Vicky Crowder, NP;  Dr. Chari Hart; Dr. Rayji Tsutsui; Eileen Gonzales, NP; Dr. Jared Oyama; Dr. Andrew Baldwin; Mio Osaki, NP.  

Dave Brooks refused to let his family history of heart problems defeat him. He was a self-proclaimed jock while growing up in San Diego. Dave stuck to a healthy diet and rejected smoking, a habit he grew to avidly dislike while watching his father light up for decades.

His first home on Kauai was just 100 steps from Poipu Beach. Every day, before and after work at construction sites, he would go for miles-long swims in the bay. One night, after his workout, the 50-year-old felt a pain in his left arm.

A slight abnormality in his electrocardiogram led to a stress test, which Dave easily passed. But afterwards, his heart continued to race. When doctors at Wilcox Medical Center asked about his family history, Dave told them his father and grandfather both died of heart failure. He was sent to Straub Benioff Medical Center for more tests.

There, medical teams found a major artery was blocked. The rest of his arteries were 95% obstructed. Dave needed a quadruple bypass — a procedure his father had twice in eight years. The surgery was successful, and Dave was able to return home to Kauai four days later.

Dave Brooks with his wife, Gay.

“I wouldn’t be here without Straub Benioff,” Dave said.

Tens of thousands of patients have success stories like Dave’s because of the Clarence T.C. Ching Heart Center at Straub Benioff. The cardiology team provides noninvasive and minimally invasive evaluations and treatments for everything from irregular heartbeats to blockages and other conditions.

From the beginning, the Heart Center has been on the forefront of cardiac care, and its experienced specialists are consistently innovating to bring the newest treatments to Hawai‘i. Nearly 30 years after the first minimally invasive coronary bypass procedure in the state was performed at Straub Benioff, the structural cardiology team performed its 1,000th transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, which uses the body’s own blood vessels and blood flow to replace heart valves instead of open-heart surgery.

“Most patients are walking in the hallway a few hours after the procedure and are going home the following day,” said Dr. Jared Oyama, Straub Benioff interventional cardiologist. “Because the recovery time from the procedure is minimal, patients can enjoy the benefit of the new valve right away.”

That year, the team also inserted its 500th WatchmanTM implant. These devices prevent blood clots that can lead to strokes. But even as the number of procedures grew, the heart care team continued to treat each patient as a unique individual.

“Practicing medicine is much more personal in Hawai‘i,” Dr. Oyama said. “Some days, it seems like every patient I see has some connection through family or friends.”

Dave is now one of those with a strong connection to Straub Benioff. More than a decade after heart failure almost cut his time short, he is still swimming, gardening and enjoying an active life. Every year, he now celebrates a second “birthday,” marking the date of his heart surgery by making a gift in honor of the Straub Benioff medical teams who helped him through.

“Most people at 63 are in the fourth quarter of their life. I’m definitely in overtime because they gave me a second chance,” Dave said.