Shawn Coyne, PhD

When it comes to getting high-quality care for your heart, you can count on Wellstar.

Because we know heart health is an essential part of overall wellness, we offer leading expertise, innovative treatments and compassionate care to protect your cardiovascular health.

From heart attacks and rehabilitation to cardiac surgery and psychological support, your heart is in expert hands at Wellstar.

High-tech heart treatments

With the largest network of certified Emergency Cardiac Care Centers (ECCC) in Georgia, Wellstar ensures world-class heart care is never far away.

Our cardiovascular experts are ready to treat patients at the first signs of a heart attack. We use high-tech equipment—including electrocardiograms (EKG), chest X-rays and cardiac catheterization—to diagnose heart attacks quickly.

Getting the right care can minimize or even prevent heart damage. That’s why Wellstar relies on the most advanced treatments, such as Shockwave technology, medicines and life-saving cardiac surgery, to effectively prevent and treat heart attacks as fast as possible.

Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center has a cardiac hybrid operating room, bringing a catheterization lab and surgery suite together in one place. With catheter-based procedures, our interventional cardiologists can provide expert, minimally invasive heart attack care.

We also perform structural heart procedures, including valve repairs and replacements, along with cardiac surgery and electrophysiology procedures that can determine the cause of heart rhythm problems.

At Wellstar, we don’t just treat heart conditions when they happen. Our providers also offer world-class preventative care, helping people like Latoya Jordan catch chronic conditions—such as high blood pressure—at the very start.

The Wellstar Comprehensive Aortic Program provides treatment for people with emergency and non-emergency diseases of the aorta. We offer cutting-edge procedures and devices to diagnose, monitor and repair all types of aneurysms. From screening to treatment, our team uses a coordinated approach to care which includes comprehensive diagnostic testing. When urgent care is warranted, we can treat aortic emergencies quickly.

Care that never skips a beat

If an on-going heart condition, such as atrial fibrillation (AFib), is keeping you down, Wellstar has a team of experts who can help.

When Frank Ryan’s heart had trouble keeping pace and kept him from playing the tuba, he felt off-beat in everyday life. After getting specialized care at Wellstar, he’s back in the band again.

Wellstar Cardiac Electrophysiologist Dr. Narendra Kanuru shared state-of-the-art treatments available for heart rhythm disorders.

“Along with advanced medical therapies, we have numerous interventional or surgical therapies, including pacemakers, defibrillators and other advanced cardiac devices as well as cardiac catheter ablation,” Dr. Kanuru said.

Cardiac catheter ablation is a non-surgical procedure available at Wellstar that helps restore a regular heart rhythm by blocking abnormal electrical signals.

With the latest advances in electrophysiology at Wellstar, we’re keeping hearts going strong.

Hope for heart failure

Wellstar also provides expert care for people with congestive heart failure like Bow Matthews. The husband and father-of-two found support from our Heart Failure Academy and learned how to take care of his well-being for the long haul.

To help prevent heart failure flare-ups, Wellstar offers a remote heart monitoring technology that provides real-time health information to our providers.

“With heart failure, as with all health issues, it’s best to take preventative action and stop problems from occurring,” said Dr. Hans Lee, medical director for the Wellstar congestive heart failure program. “Monitoring your heart health and staying in touch with your cardiologist can help keep you out of the hospital and keep your heart in shape.”

For those whose hearts need extra assistance like Mike Clements, a left ventricular assistance device (LVAD) can be a game-changer. An LVAD is a battery-powered pump that is surgically implanted to help the heart more effectively pump blood.

"An LVAD gives patients with severe heart failure the opportunity to get their lives back,” said Dr. Brian Howard, medical director of the advanced heart failure and LVAD program at Wellstar Kennestone. “These life-saving devices are powerful enough to take over for the failing heart. They allow patients to enjoy life with their loved ones as they await a heart transplant, and in some cases, they even serve as an alternate to a heart transplant entirely.”

At the Heart Failure Clinic at Wellstar Cobb Medical Center and the Advanced Heart Failure Program at Wellstar Kennestone, trained experts provide specialized care for those with heart failure and LVAD implants, helping to improve quality of life.

After Mike received his LVAD implant, he was able to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding. Thanks to advanced technology available at Wellstar, patients with heart failure can keep doing what matters most.

Specialized support services

Wellstar has dedicated resources to help people with cardiac conditions find support.

Following a medical event like a heart attack or other serious cardiac problem, Wellstar offers cardiac rehabilitation to get people back on track.

Cardiac rehabilitation is a medically monitored program that provides education, support and lifestyle modifications. Our team helps you learn heart-healthy behaviors and lower your risk for future heart issues.

However, we understand health journeys aren’t just about physical healing. Dealing with heart issues can also cause many difficult mental health challenges, including anxiety and depression.

“At Wellstar, we wanted to build out a program just for our cardiovascular patients because behavioral health and cardiac health are really closely connected,” said Dr. Shawn Coyne, Wellstar director of health psychology and cardiac psychologist. “In fact, cardiac patients are three times more likely to be depressed than the general population.”

After living with three chronic heart conditions for years, John Petrick found solace in meeting with a Wellstar cardiac psychologist. Now, he’s learned new coping skills and how to prioritize his mental well-being.

With support services at the ready, patients with complex conditions can better understand themselves and their overall health.

Care to keep your heart healthy

No matter what your cardiovascular concerns may be, Wellstar is dedicated to helping people with heart conditions live life to the fullest.

Learn more about how Wellstar is protecting heart health in Georgia, and how you can take control of your cardiovascular health.

Your body supports you in everything you do, from everyday activities like grocery shopping to milestones and memories with friends and family. 

But while you may make sure you eat healthy, get your exercise and see your doctor to keep up with your physical health, it’s important to check in on your mental health, too. 

Wellstar offers a full range of behavioral health services close to home in convenient locations, so you can feel your best both physically and mentally.

Meeting you where you are

If you’re dealing with feelings of anxiety and depression, you may turn to your primary care physician or another healthcare provider for help. Wellstar is removing barriers to behavioral healthcare by integrating those services into many of our locations. 

On-site behavioral health providers work at many of our primary care and specialty clinics, making it a little easier to take that first step in improving your mental health. Wellstar also provides access to on-site and virtual behavioral health specialists in hospital emergency departments and on the medical floors.

“We know that patients are already struggling with stigma, and sometimes it takes a lot for a patient to come into care with a behavioral health professional, and we wanted to remove that stigma,” said Dr. Ryan Breshears, chief behavioral health officer at Wellstar.

About 1 in 3 patients with a physical health condition also could benefit from some form of mental health support, Dr. Breshears said. Wellstar providers work together across specialties to ensure each patient receives “whole person care”—addressing both their mental and physical well-being.

“When you address the mental health components that an individual is dealing with, you’re going to improve the physical outcomes,” Dr. Breshears said. “In the same way, if you address the physical health outcomes, you’re probably going to provide care that improves the mental health outcomes as well.”

Wellstar Psychologist Dr. Shawn Coyne works with cardiac patients to provide that whole person care to patients like John Petrick and his daughter Janin as they adjust to cardiac diagnoses. 

Cardiac health and behavioral health are closely tied, Dr. Coyne said—if someone is depressed, they are twice as likely to have a cardiac health issue or twice as likely to experience a second cardiac event. Heart patients are also three times as likely to be depressed as the general population.

In addition to cardiovascular behavioral medicine, Wellstar also offers several other specialized programs to assist patients with the mental and emotional challenges of a medical condition: 

• Metabolic behavioral medicine, for patients with metabolic conditions or who have received bariatric surgery
• Psycho-gastroenterology to provide support to gastrointestinal patients
• Psychosocial oncology to help patients adjust to cancer treatment
• Somatic symptom disorders for people experiencing unexplained physical symptoms that may be caused or impacted by stress

With our PeopleCare approach, Wellstar providers tailor care to each patient, taking the time to get to know their needs and create a customized care plan.

“You as the patient are part of the treatment team,” Dr. Coyne said. “You are involved, you can participate, you give feedback, you engage and we get a better end product when we work as a strong team.”

To learn more about outpatient behavioral health services, call (770) 644-1570.

Compassionate inpatient care

If you or a loved one requires immediate care for a behavioral health condition, our inpatient behavioral health units provide 24-hour care for adults ages 18 and older.

Inpatient behavioral health services include round-the-clock monitoring, medication management, individual and group therapy, and educational resources for both the patient and their family.

If you have questions, you can reach our Behavioral Health Assessment & Resource Center anytime at (470) 732-3789. However, in the case of an emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.

Learn more about behavioral health services at Wellstar.

If “adventure” were a gene, John Petrick surely passed it on to his daughter, Janin.

The father-daughter duo has always wanted to experience everything life has to offer. Together, the pair has survived an avalanche in the Alaskan wilderness, spent the night stranded on a cliff and even made a cross-country move from California to Georgia.

But one thing they never expected to have in common was a rare heart condition.

Instead of putting their shared adventures on pause, John and Janin teamed up with Wellstar in different ways to manage their heart conditions. With an entire team of heart specialists working seamlessly together, the pair found the expert, specialized cardiac care they needed—and it never skipped a beat.

Discovering the “Janin Genome”

For more than two decades, John managed the ups and downs of atrial fibrillation (AFib) and ventricular tachycardia (VT) with specialists in California. But after moving cross-country to Georgia, he had to start over from scratch.

With such complex heart conditions and a more recent diagnosis of congestive heart failure, John knew he couldn’t trust his care to just anyone. At Wellstar, he soon found an expansive, multidisciplinary team—including cardiologists, electrophysiologists and surgeons.

Similarly, Wellstar would also end up helping John’s daughter, Janin, following her treatment for a severe heart episode—one that was strikingly similar to her father’s. After several spells of faintness, Janin was equipped with a Holter monitor, a wearable device that records heart rhythms.

“After just 18 hours, I got a call from my doctor’s office. My electrophysiologist was gravely concerned about the readings,” Janin recalled. “Apparently, the night before, my heart had completely stopped for five seconds. And, at that very moment, I was in a dangerous arrhythmia.”

Just like her father, Janin was diagnosed with VT and an atrioventricular block, which occurs when the electrical signals traveling from the upper chambers of the heart to the lowers chambers is blocked.

She soon got a defibrillator implanted to help keep her heart in regular rhythm. As Janin started to get back on track after the surgery, her doctor felt more answers could be uncovered. At her electrophysiologist’s suggestion, she participated in genetic testing.

At Wellstar, John underwent the same genetic testing to see if any clues about their heart conditions could be uncovered in their DNA. With just a simple blood draw, the Wellstar genetics team can get an inside look at the hereditary markers for certain genetic conditions.

After sharing so many adventures and similar personality traits, it was no surprise when the results revealed the same exact abnormality in both of their genes.

However, the genetic discovery—playfully nicknamed the “Janin Genome” by John and his daughter—was a first for the heart specialists. While genetic tests for other heart conditions like cardiac disease may be more commonplace, testing for arrhythmic heart disorders like VT is rare.

“When we got the results, they told us, ‘We've never seen this before—such an identical test result, regarding the same gene and the same anomaly affecting heart rhythm,’” John said. “The doctors concluded there may be a genetic connection to our heart problems, and it was worth paying attention to and exploring further.”

The Petricks are now in the process of getting the genetic testing done for the whole family, so all of their loved ones can take charge of their own wellness.

“After we had our testing, it was a starting point for our family,” Janin said, explaining how the genetic testing had a positive ripple effect for her family members. “We encouraged every single one of our blood relatives to go through genetic testing.”