Piedmont Eastside has its heart in Gwinnett County

Eastside Medical Center joined Piedmont in August 2021, becoming a part of a 22-hospital system that places quality, safety, and service at the center of everything it does for the communities it serves. Through a network of 1,600 physical locations, Piedmont cares for 3.7 million patients and serves communities that comprise 80 percent of Georgia’s population. Piedmont is committed to providing care close to home.

Longtime Gwinnett County resident Eddie Payne says he now understands how important it is to have access to highly trained doctors and advanced clinical procedures close to home. For Payne, it proved lifesaving.

Early one morning, the Payne family was getting ready for the day when Eddie informed his wife, Robin, that he wasn’t feeling well. He told her he had an “unusual” pain in his chest. He planned to go back to bed, but Robin insisted he take his blood pressure first. It was 207 over 127. Instead of going back to bed, Robin put Eddie in the car and took him straight to Piedmont Eastside Medical Center’s emergency department.

Piedmont Eastside Medical Center is an accredited chest pain center with PCI from the Society of Chest Pain Centers, or Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) & Resuscitation, the highest national accreditation for emergency heart care. When minutes matter, Piedmont Eastside is equipped to quickly treat heart attacks close to home.

Piedmont Heart Institute provides comprehensive cardiovascular care and, at Piedmont Eastside, is the premier cardiology provider in the area. The practice has five interventional cardiologists who perform minimally invasive stent placement, cardiac catheterization, and balloon angioplasty. It also has one electrophysiology cardiologist who diagnoses and treats heart rhythm disorders and two general cardiologists who treat all kinds of heart disease.

Omar Kashlan, M.D., a Piedmont Heart Interventional Cardiologist, saw Payne in the emergency room and told him that the pain he was having was caused by a 100% blockage in his right ventricle. Simply put, Eddie was having a heart attack, and had Robin not insisted he go to the hospital, he could have died. Within minutes, Eddie was taken to the cardiac catheterization lab at Piedmont Eastside, where Dr. Kashlan placed a stent, allowing blood and oxygen to return to the heart. Following the procedure, Eddie was monitored in the ICU before being downgraded to the medical floor and, ultimately, discharged home.

To help his heart get stronger, Payne was prescribed 12 weeks of cardiac rehabilitation at Piedmont Eastside. In addition to helping him recover from the heart attack, the program would teach him how to prevent other heart-related issues, teach him stress management techniques, and even help him with his diet. Both Eddie and Robin have health concerns, and Eddie’s heart attack not only brought them closer together but also served as a wake-up call. They decided they were ready to do whatever they needed to do to improve their health, for each other, and for their children and grandchildren.

“I have a new lease on life,” Eddie said. “I want to be here for a long time, and I’ll do whatever I can to stay here.”

Said Robin: “I now take Eddie’s blood pressure every day and keep up with his new diet, so he doesn’t feel alone in this. We are partners for life, even in this new routine. I’m just happy Eastside saved his life and I didn’t back down from knowing the signs of a heart attack.”

Piedmont is proud of the fact that it offers high-quality care close to home through an integrated health care system that makes things easy for its patients. Piedmont Eastside has been a healthcare leader in Gwinnett for 40 years, and by joining Piedmont, it continues to broaden its impact in the community. Through seamless integration of care, Payne was diagnosed in the emergency department, underwent a procedure in the cath lab, was monitored on the inpatient cardiac unit, and was then discharged for follow-up treatment at outpatient cardiac rehabilitation.

“There’s nowhere else you can go to get this kind of care from people who truly care about you,” said Payne.

Today, the Paynes enjoy spending time together and with their loved ones. Eddie is 71 years old and hopes that this was his one and only heart attack. “When something feels off with your body, trust your gut, and most importantly, trust your spouse,” he advises. For more information on Piedmont Eastside Medical Center or Piedmont Heart Institute, visit piedmont.org.