Driving on the links, then driving to the Emergency Room

Bob Nagle was playing golf at Bethpage Golf Course when he began to feel tightness in his chest. He decided to drive himself to nearby St. Joseph Hospital.

“I’d been a patient of Dr. Richard Shlofmitz for many years at St. Francis, and I knew that both hospitals were part of Catholic Health’s network,” Bob explained. “It seemed a safe bet that St. Joseph would have a way of accessing the cardiovascular know-how I’d experienced at St. Francis—and it was closer.”

Emergency Care physicians at St. Joseph quickly determined that Bob was indeed having a heart attack. Fortunately, St. Francis Heart Center now has a unit on the St. Joseph campus. Within minutes, he was in their Cardiac Catheterization Lab having a life-saving angioplasty performed by Dr. Ralph Caselnova and his Cath Lab team, all of whom are part of St. Francis Heart Center at St. Joseph Hospital.

“When someone experiencing heart problems enters St. Joseph, they will get the same level of care and expertise they would at St. Francis,” said Christopher Nelson, President of St. Joseph Hospital. “The great benefit of Catholic Health is that it is a system that puts its expertise at multiple access points across Long Island. And when minutes count, that saves lives.”

Bob is glad he made the decision to drive to St. Joseph. The 79-year-old retired NY Board of Education worker said, “I can honestly say I received the same quality of care and treatment I’d received at St. Francis Hospital all those years ago. When it comes to cardiology, it sure seems like Catholic Health is one unified team.”

Learn more about Catholic Health cardiology services.