The Preventive Cardiology Program is a multidisciplinary approach to identifying potential cardiovascular disease risks factors in patients, educating them in ways to prevent heart disease.
Preventive Cardiology is more than early bird specials at Penrose-St. Francis Health Services By Andrea Sinclair
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ardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, with approximately 2,200 Americans dying every 40 seconds from cardiovascular-related causes, according to the American Heart Association. Prevention has become central in the reduction of cardiovascular-related disease and mortality, with cardiologists and primary care providers playing an instrumental part in the delivery of preventive care. As part of our mission to build flourishing communities and whole person care, the physicians at PenroseSt. Francis Health Services and Colorado Springs Cardiology, a Centura Health Clinic, know it’s far better to prevent a disease than to treat it. The Preventive Cardiology Program at Penrose-St. Francis has helped about 150 cardiovascular patients since its inception in the fall of 2016. The program, whose leaders and co-directors are Dr. David Albrecht, specialist in general cardiology and nuclear cardiology, and Dr. Paul Sherry, who specializes in 14
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cardiovascular disease, is designed to increase understanding and education about ways to prevent heart disease and to encourage preventive cardiovascular care. Both doctors have accomplished additional certifications in nuclear cardiology and cardiac ultrasound. The Preventive Cardiology Program is a multidisciplinary approach to identifying potential cardiovascular disease risks factors in patients, educating them in ways to prevent heart disease. This program helps people make lifestyle changes to prevent cardiovascular disease and the Preventive Cardiology Program team provides a multidisciplinary approach to teach participants how to reduce the factors that are putting them at risk for heart attack and stroke. The program includes community-wide prevention seminars held in Colorado Springs and Canon City with presentations by both doctors Albrecht and Sherry, as well as registered dietitians, exercise physiologists, cardiac rehabilitation specialists and cardiovascular nursing experts. The prevention seminars also offer on-site free health and biometric screenings and nutrition consultations.
“This program is about keeping people away from cardiologists and heart surgeons, while at the same time improving their quality of life,” said Sherry. The former military physician attended the U.S. Air Force Academy and then Texas A&M University Medical School. Sherry served in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years and has spent another two decades in private practice cardiology in Colorado Springs. At Penrose-St. Francis, the Preventive Cardiology Program offers resources to patients with an elevated risk of developing cardiovascular disease; individualized programs designed to reduce risk factors and prevent disease from getting worse. The Preventive Cardiology Program team includes specialists to direct patients to nutritional services, prescriptive exercise programs, stress testing, cardiovascular riskreduction programs and a vascular rehabilitation program. Doctors Albrecht and Sherry have treated all types of cardiovascular disease for decades and recognize the value of prevention. Both physicians believe it is especially important to reach people in their