Ohio Valley Health Center (OVHC) was recently featured in the Herald-Star for successfully providing its first in-house echocardiogram. The center made an exciting investment last year by purchasing an echocardiogram machine, which now enables them to analyze heart health and diagnose heart disease more effectively. This advancement is significant for underprivileged individuals who may struggle to access such critical healthcare services.

Congratulations to OVHC on this exciting new development, and thank you for your commitment to supporting the most vulnerable in your community!

Check out the full article that was published in the Herald-Star below.

STEUBENVILLE — Tuesday was the Ohio Valley Health Center’s first day providing an in-house echocardiogram for one of its patients, through a new machine purchased late last year.

An echocardiogram, or echo, is a noninvasive test that produces a moving image of the heart. Although a critical tool for analyzing heart health and diagnosing heart disease, an echocardiogram can sometimes be inaccessible for underprivileged individuals who need one.

Medically underinsured individuals may struggle to obtain prior authorization for an echo from their insurers, and the test’s cost may be prohibitive without insurance’s help. That puts a strain on some patients — who may already be experiencing symptoms of heart disease — as getting tested stands between them and returning to work.

With the addition of its own echocardiogram machine, the OVHC is ensuring its patients get the tests they need for diagnosis and monitoring.

A free clinic in Steubenville that services the medically underinsured and uninsured of the Ohio Valley, the OVHC can now perform echocardiograms at its South Street facility, eliminating the need for echo referrals. If one of the clinic’s volunteer medical providers determines an echo is necessary, the patient is scheduled for an imminent echo. If it’s an emergency, the test can potentially be done the same day.

In 2024, the OVHC provided $1,116,038 worth of care, including $279,857 in lab services, from lipid panels to pulmonary function tests. By adding its echo machine — obtained through two funding partners — the clinic is expanding its services and keeping patients’ hearts beating as they should.

Executive Director Ann Quillen said that Tuesday’s first official echo at the center was a “momentous occasion” and a “dream come true” for individuals involved.

“One of the driving forces of the health center is providing care to people who really need it,” she said, “and this is just one more tool that Ohio Valley Health Center is going to have to continue to grow that care.”

Dr. Charn Nandra, the OVHC’s medical director and an interventional cardiologist for Trinity Health System, called Tuesday’s test a “wonderful moment,” adding separately: “I’m just thrilled that this long-awaited need has been met by generous support from the organizations.”

Also enthusiastic was Kelly Wise, a cardiac sonographer at Weirton Medical Center, who will be volunteering her time to perform the OVHC’s echos. When a patient needs a test, she’ll arrive to facilitate it.

Wise recalled: “As soon as they got the machine … I messaged Ann right away, and I said, ‘I’m your girl’ because I have been wanting to do something more with my skills. I mean, who doesn’t? She messaged me back right away and said, ‘Absolutely — Thank you, thank you, thank you.’ It’s been nice, ever since, just trying to get everything set up.”

Fundamentally, an echo is an ultrasound showing inside the subject’s heart, Wise said. It checks how well the heart is pumping and looks for problems with the valves, infections or blood clots. Echos can also be used to rule out abnormalities within the heart than can’t be seen with a heart catheterization.

“Essentially, anything that could go on inside the heart, we’ll be able to see here.”

Certified through the National Board of Echocardiography, Nandra noted the OVHC’s many patients who arrive with cardiac diseases but no insurance. Echos can be “rather expensive,” so being able to offer the test in-house at no cost to the patient is a major benefit — foregoing the need to ask hospitals for discounted rates.

Echos, Nandra added, allow for detailed examinations of the heart valves and are useful for patients with suspected heart failure, hypertensive disease or arrhythmia.

“This echo machine is also versatile in assessing carotid artery disease. Carotid artery stenosis often is the cause of stroke, and if detected early, the risk of stroke can be reduced. … This tool is very useful in longitudinally monitoring valve disease and cardiomyopathy (weak heart).”

The OVHC’s machine, manufactured by General Electric, can be used for additional types of imaging tests, provided it has the right type of probes. Nandra said that offering echocardiograms was the clinic’s foremost priority, but other tests may follow in time.

Receiving the OVHC’s first echo on Tuesday was Donald Zurow of Steubenville, who, in 2023, began suffering the effects of cardiomyopathy resulting from longstanding atrial fibrillation.

Following a hospitalization, Zurow became a patient of the OVHC, which started him on guideline-directed medical therapy utilizing several medications. Since then, his heart has improved “significantly,” Nandra said, adding that Tuesday’s echo was meant to check his progress and assess possible changes in medication.

Although Zurow didn’t get his first echo at the OVHC, he acknowledged that the new tool will be helpful for him and others with similar issues.

“Without seeing, you don’t really know what’s in there, what’s going on,” Zurow said, adding, “Having the right tools in any profession is a dramatic change for the best.”

The echo machine was purchased through two funding partners: The Charles M. And Themla M. Pugliese Foundation and the Community Foundation of the Ohio Valley, River Valley Health Fund.

One of the Pugliese Foundation’s three trustees, Tom Timmons is also treasurer for the OVHC’s board of trustees, so he an inside perspective of what OVHC does and how adding this service would benefit patients.

“It was something that we thought the Ohio Valley Health Center truly needed, and it was going to be good for the patients,” Timmons said. “We just felt it was a plus, an addition to the services we provide at the Ohio Valley Health center.”

The RVHF, a funding component of the CFOV issues health care or education-supporting grants to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in or serving Brooke, Ohio, Marshall and Wetzel counties in West Virginia and Belmont, Jefferson, Monroe, Guernsey and Harrison counties in Ohio.

Program Officer Debbie Stanton said, “CFOV and the River Valley Health Fund committee are pleased to have supported the purchase of this invaluable equipment for Ohio Valley Health Center. This technology will enhance their ability to provide timely, life-saving care and will directly impact the health and wellbeing of countless individuals in the community.

The echo machine itself was purchased through Henry Schein, a medical supplies distributor that’s partnered with the OVHC since the clinic’s genesis in 2006. Susan Rayl, clinical lab specialist, said her organization has been a “proud partner” of the OVHC, providing a “full line of physician office products from bandages, gloves, small medical devices, laboratory equipment and ultrasound equipment, like the GE echocardiogram, being put into service today.”

“The OVHC has always been an excellent business partner, and since I live in Steubenville, it is more personal for me,” Rayl said, “I see firsthand the quality and quantity of the services Ann Quillen and her staff provide the people from our valley that need it the most. It is very satisfying to play a small role in the amazing services this clinic provides.”