BayCare, St. Joseph’s Hospital Continuity of Care Saves Lives

Brittany Williams was feeling great when she decided to go the gym in July 2023. But during a short workout, she fell ill and was rushed to the emergency center at BayCare’s St. Anthony’s Hospital in St. Petersburg.

Although she wasn’t a stranger to cardiac episodes – an event in 2014 resulted in the implantation of a defibrillator and a pacemaker – she still was concerned about what was happening this time and what would come next. 

Because of the continuity of care between BayCare hospitals – Williams received her follow-up care and surgery at St. Joseph’s Hospital (SJH) in Tampa -- she is grateful for the clinical excellence displayed at all levels.  

“Starting with the treatment I received at St. Anthony’s Hospital to my last procedure at SJH, the seamless transition of care helped ease my worries throughout my journey,” Williams said. 

To understand how Williams came to BayCare hospitals, you have to go back to New York City in 2014 when she suffered cardiac arrest and lost consciousness while dining with her family. Two nearby physicians detected no pulse and administered CPR. Paramedics arrived and used a defibrillator to shock her heart back in rhythm. 

Physicians at a local hospital diagnosed her with Long QT Syndrome, a disease that can cause dangerous and fast chaotic heart arrhythmias. Physicians implanted an internal defibrillator and pacemaker to monitor her heartbeat and shock her heart back in rhythm if she experienced another event. 

“For the past nine years she was doing well,” said Shalin Shah, MD, a BayCare Medical Group cardiac electrophysiologist, who has seen Williams since her first cardiac event. “But her arrhythmias became worse.”

After the 2023 event, Dr. Shah recommended a procedure called cardiac ablation and for Williams to complete a transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE).   

Cardiac ablation procedures use radio-frequency energy or other sources to terminate or modify a faulty electrical pathway from sections of the heart for those who are prone to developing cardiac arrhythmias. A TEE uses sound waves that create pictures of the heart to ensure there are no blood clots present. 

While performing the cardiac ablation and TEE, Dr. Shah said that Williams had a severely leaky mitral valve. The mitral valve keeps blood moving in the right direction in the heart. Issues with the valve make the heart pump harder and can lead to congestive heart failure. 
 
Even with her extensive familiarity with cardiac procedures, Williams wasn’t prepared for what doctors told her.  

“I was just waking up from the ablation procedure when they were telling me the news” she said. “I was terrified and could not believe what they discovered during the procedure.”