Methodist Healthcare System | Keeping Well | Spring 2018

HealthBus Offers Free Transportation Whenever You Need It Lillian Newton, 83, is a regular HealthBus rider and recommends it highly. “It is an excellent service,” she said. “And the people who work on it are excellent too.” Newton began riding the HealthBus about three years ago when her husband was ill. She needed transportation assis- tance and saw a brochure about HealthBus at the hospital. Though her husband has passed away, she still uses the service two to three times a month as she goes to ap- pointments with her primary care doctor, cardiologist and eye doctor at Northeast Methodist Hospital. “They pick me up at my home, and they will even come to the door for me,” she said. “Sometimes I am the only one riding—sometimes there are four or five others. The HealthBus gets me to appoint- ments on time, and the encouragement that riders receive from Healthbus staff is just so wonderful.” HealthBus for adults and Well Waldo’s Wheels for children and expectant moms provide transportation from your home to your doctor’s office or hospital and then pick you up later and take you home. For information on how to schedule a ride and specific hospitals and ZIP codes served, phone 210-MHS-RIDE . Methodist Heart Hospital and the San Antonio Spurs teamed up to make sure that Jeanne Froman’s 95th birthday was extra special with a surprise visit from the Spurs Coyote and Spurs Silver Dancer Alexis. Celebrating are (from left) Jeanne’s daughter Julie Froman Mascilli; the Spurs Coyote; Jorge Alvarez, MD; Jeanne; and Alexis. Dr. Alvarez performed a heart valve replacement procedure on Jeanne that saved her life. Spurs Help Tap Dancing Great-Grandmother Celebrate 95 th Birthday Metropolitan Methodist Hospital is among the lead funders of a groundbreaking African American art exhibition at the McNay Art Museum. Something to Say: The McNay Presents 100 Years of African American Art is the first major survey of modern and contemporary African American art to be presented at the McNay. The exhibition juxtaposes works from the pioneering collection of Harmon and Harriet Kelley with loans from the collections of Guillermo Nicolas and Jim Foster, John and Freda Facey, and the McNay. Shown is Girl in a Red Dress , 1934, oil on canvas by Charles Alston, Harmon and Harriet Kelley Foundation for the Arts. “At Metropolitan Methodist Hospital we provide a wide range of services to diverse neighborhoods,” said Greg Seiler, CEO of the hospital. “Partnering with the McNay on this exhibit reflects our commitment to inclusion, social consciousness and artis- tic excellence.” Methodist Heart Hospital and the San Antonio Spurs teamed up to make sure that Jeanne Froman’s 95th birthday was extra special. Jorge Alvarez, MD, Jeanne’s cardiologist, and members of the staff at the Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Clinic at Methodist Heart Hospital arranged for Jeanne to come in for a visit on Feb. 6. Instead of undergoing a checkup, Jeanne was greeted by the Spurs Coyote, with a birthday cake in hand, and by a Spurs Silver Dancer with a bouquet of flowers. During the ceremony, Jeanne was named an honorary Silver Dancer and she showed off her talents by quickly putting on her tap shoes and performing with Silver Dancer Alexis. The event was a great opportunity for Jeanne to celebrate the second chance that she has had at life. A dancer all her life, she was a contestant on “America’s Got Talent” in 2008. Jeanne almost had to put her tap shoes away when she began suffering from congestive heart failure. In Jeanne’s case, her heart valves were not closing property. She was gasping for breath and had low energy. In April 2016 Alvarez performed the Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) procedure. It is an important option for seniors like Jeanne because open-heart surgery is not required as in conventional replacement surgery. The new valve is positioned on a catheter and then inserted through the leg. Many se- niors are not good candidates for conven- tional valve replacement surgery because their hearts are weak. “I feel that I have had the last year and a half by the grace of God and because of Dr. Alvarez and his staff,” said Jeanne. “Tap dancing was always important to me since I was born with rickets and put in a body cast as well as two leg casts at the age of one month. My parents were told that I would probably walk crippled. Isn’t it Metropolitan Methodist Hospital Funds Groundbreaking Exhibition amazing I walked with leg casts on, taught myself to tap and became a professional dancer and a dance teacher for 47 years?” The celebration at the clinic was in advance of her actual birthday on Feb. 9, when she celebratedwith family and friends. For more information on TAVR, visit https://sahealth.com/service/tavr . Lillian Newton, a regular HealthBus rider, recommends it highly. N E W S , V I E W S & T I P S M E T H O D I S T H E A L T H C A R E S P R I N G 2 0 1 8 K E E P I N G W E L L 7