Published: July 10, 2009 07:43 pm      

LCRH to be featured on “HEALTHbeat Kentucky

Somerset — Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital will be airing a series of 30-minute educational television programs called “HEALTHbeat Kentucky” on WTVQ beginning this Saturday.

The first program will air July 11 at 7 p.m. and will focus on peripheral artery disease, or PAD. LCRH’s newest cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon, Dr. Richard Heuer, will discuss the risks, symptoms and treatments associated with the disease in a down-to-earth manner in an effort to make hospital visits less intimidating to patients.

Additional programs will focus on mitrovalve (August) and heart disease (September), and even more programs may be recorded in the future.

“The programs are designed to educate people in a unique, creative way,” says LCRH Community Relations Director Susan Ramsey Wilson. “We’re really excited about them.”

The first program in the series will re-air on July 25 at 7 p.m. on WTVQ.

The shows will also be broadcast on NewWave Communications’ local access channel on Friday, July 17, at 7:30 p.m. and every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:30 p.m. during the last two weeks of July.

Wilson says show topics will “focus on health issues that affect Kentuckians.”

The shows will feature scenarios with an individual playing the role of a patient, show how certain procedures are done at the hospital, and provide viewers with a virtual tour of LCRH so they’ll know what to expect if they need its services.

LCRH CEO Jeff Seraphine is the show’s host.

“There will be snippets of information from various areas of the hospital in each show,” Wilson explains. “For example, team members in the cath lab and the cardiovascular unit will be interviewed, and heart healthy tips will be provided from members of food and nutrition services.”

Wilson says the goal is to “remove the mystery” associated with certain medical issues and with visits to the hospital.

The programs are being filmed by Dennis Busher of The Center for Rural Development.

“We are trying a new medium in an attempt to reach a broader audience,” Wilson says. “We hope people will enjoy it and learn something from it. ... If people know what to expect when they come to the hospital, maybe they won’t be intimidated by it, and then they can do what they need to do for the sake of their health.”