Spence family’s experience highlights importance of collaboration and comprehensive care for women’s unique cardiac needs

 

Lehigh Valley, Pa. (November 21, 2024) – Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) recently announced a gift to name The Spence Family Women’s Heart and Pregnancy Program during a private event at Saucon Valley Country Club.

Bill and Denise Spence made a generous gift to the Women’s Heart and Pregnancy Program, part of Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute, the first in the region and one of only a few in the country. The program gives women access to a specialized team that manages high-risk pregnancy and heart disease or a heart-related condition before, during and after pregnancy.

Ronald Freudenberger, MD, Physician in Chief, Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute, and Deborah Sundlof, DO, Director of the Women’s Heart and Vascular Program, spoke during the event about the unique aspects of the program and why collaboration is critical for comprehensive care.

“It makes sense to have a clinic where maternal-fetal medicine doctors and a cardiologist can work together, see the patient together and give patients a comprehensive view of the situation from an obstetrics and a cardiology perspective,” said Dr. Freudenberger. “We’re able to help women who otherwise may be too high risk to go through pregnancy or who are high risk and pregnant.” Preconception counseling is also provided through the program.

The clinical team implements a treatment plan that helps guide women through a successful pregnancy. “We pride ourselves on being a group of physicians and clinicians who collaborate across our areas of specialty to give women the quality care they expect and deserve,” Dr. Sundlof said.

“This was something near and dear to our hearts,” said Denise Spence. The Spences’ gift is inspired by their deep affinity for LVHN and their daughter’s diagnosis of supraventricular tachycardia during her own pregnancy, which put her and her baby at risk. Rachel Spence took many obstetric and cardiac appointments separately in her home state of California to manage her conditions. Now, with a healthy daughter and grandchild, Bill and Denise share concern for women who are experiencing what their daughter did.

Their generosity not only funds multidisciplinary collaboration, but will also support a coordinator/educator to assist in program facilitation and development of educational initiatives for doctors and clinical staff. “The Spences’ gift will go a very long way in helping the women in our community live better and live longer,” Dr. Sundlof said.

Brian A. Nester, DO, MBA, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Jefferson, and President, LVHN, was also in attendance. He shared that the Heart and Pregnancy Program is part of the Women’s Heart and Vascular Program, one of the largest of its kind nationwide, which is staffed by 10 female cardiologists and two female vascular surgeons across multiple LVHN sites. The 25-year-old program focuses on the unique cardiac needs, risk factors and symptoms of women, who are often underrepresented in cardiac research. He also noted that LVHN provides the highest caliber of pregnancy care available in the region, with unparalleled expertise. The Heart and Pregnancy Program is complemented by LVHN’s maternal fetal medicine team, midwifery program and the Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital.

 

About Jefferson 
Lehigh Valley Health Network is now proudly part of Jefferson Health. Nationally ranked, Jefferson, which is principally located in the Greater Philadelphia region, Lehigh Valley and northeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey, is reimagining health care and higher education to create unparalleled value. Jefferson is more than 65,000 people strong, dedicated to providing the highest-quality, compassionate clinical care for patients; making our communities healthier and stronger; preparing tomorrow’s professional leaders for 21st-century careers; and creating new knowledge through basic/programmatic, clinical and applied research. Thomas Jefferson University, home of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Jefferson College of Nursing, and the Kanbar College of Design, Engineering and Commerce, dates back to 1824 and today comprises 10 colleges and three schools offering 200+ undergraduate and graduate programs to more than 8,300 students. Jefferson Health, nationally ranked as one of the top 15 not-for-profit health care systems in the country and the largest provider in the Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley areas, serves patients through millions of encounters each year at 32 hospitals and more than 700 outpatient and urgent care locations throughout the region. Jefferson Health Plans is a not-for-profit managed health care organization providing a broad range of health coverage options in Pennsylvania and New Jersey for more than 35 years.

 

Information provided to TVL by:
Jamie  Stover