WSIL News 3: SIH opens new outpatient heart failure clinic
MURPHYSBORO (WSIL) -- Southern Illinois Healthcare (SIH) has a new facility for patients with congestive heart failure.
The new clinic opened Wednesday at St. Joseph Memorial Hospital in Murphysboro. The first location opened in Herrin and later moved to Marion.
Dr. Muhammad Khan, a cardiologist from Prairie Cardiovascular, says the idea for a second location has been in the works for about a year.
"A lot of people have difficulty driving from different towns," Dr. Khan said. "I think a lot of the patients had a hard time going to Marion so that was one other challenge."
Dr. Khan says the disease affects around six million people across the U.S. and has a reputation for being worse than it actually is. "It suggests that the heart is at the end,,,,, but that's truly not the case."
Terry Burns worked as a coal miner for 35 years before he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 2008. He lived with the disease for 10 years and used an LVAD before receiving a new heart.
"I'm going to have this heart for 30 years I hope," Burns said. "I'll be 95 by the time I die, and that's cool. I can live with that."
Burns said his will to live encouraged him to make life-altering changes like eating healthier and exercising in the gym.
Dr. Khan says anyone can get ahead of the disease by making better choices for their body.
"Diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure... are totally something that we cannot acquire," Dr. Khan said. "It just requires a very good lifestyle."