Care Teams, Heart Attack Survivors Unite for Heart Month Luncheon at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center

Patients and doctors speak from the heart about second chances following heart attacks.

CLINTON, Md — Their stories are all different, but the outcomes are blissfully the same.

Fifteen patients who suffered the most severe- and often fatal- type of heart attack joined clinical staff and emergency responders for a luncheon at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center earlier this month to share their stories and celebrate their remarkable recoveries.

The patients were among 173 people last year who received treatment in the MedStar Southern Maryland cardiac catheterization lab for a complete coronary artery blockage, also called a STEMI.

Usually arriving by ambulance or medical flight, STEMI patients are rushed to the catheterization lab where interventional cardiologists thread a catheter through the artery to the heart and open the blockage with a balloon. A tiny mesh stent follows holding the vessel open and restoring blood flow. Saving a patient’s life can happen in minutes. In January 2026, the door-to-balloon (D2B) time at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center averaged 43.5 minutes, exceeding the national benchmark of 90 minutes.

“But today isn’t about metrics or awards,” said Brian Case, MD, medical director of the cardiac catheterization lab. “D2B is not just a number. It’s about impact. Behind every door-to-balloon time and every quality benchmark is a person, a family, and a future preserved because a system worked exactly as it should.”

Several STEMI survivors shared their experiences during the luncheon. Among them was Christopher Butcher, 57, a Virginia father of two. Paramedics rushed him to MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center after he suffered a heart attack while bicycling. He has no recall of a passerby administering CPR or the emergency transport to the hospital.

“Nobody would look at me and say that I was at risk for a heart attack,” said Butcher, who regularly rides 50-to-70-miles. “I eat decently, I’m not diabetic, I don’t smoke, I drink a little, and I have no generational history of cardiac disease.”

Dr. Case stented the coronary blockage in the cardiac catheterization lab, and with subsequent cardiac rehabilitation, Christopher said he has a new perspective on what it means to live a heart-healthy life.

“The main thing that is a gift to me is having my heart attack when I was 57 leaves a lot of time to fix things and change things,” Butcher said. “Having good conversations with good medical providers broadened my sense of what health really is.”

The MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center lab has experienced a 20% increase in procedures while expanding the complexity of care delivered locally over the past year.

“The true measure of a cardiovascular program is not simply procedural excellence,” said Stephen Michaels, MD, FACHE, president of MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center and senior vice president of MedStar Health. “It is the ability to respond with urgency, precision, and compassion, and change the trajectory of their lives.”

“From the emergency department to the cath lab, then cardiac rehab and continuous cardiac monitoring, this is comprehensive care,” said Karen Wyche, DNP, RN, the hospital’s chief nursing officer.

That comprehensive care helped Gloria Peterson recover from a STEMI earlier this year. Glori shared that she didn’t associate symptoms of nausea, weakness, and chills with a heart attack, but when she passed out, her husband called 9-1-1.

In the MedStar Southern Maryland emergency department, Gloria encountered her long-time cardiologist, Roy Lieboff, MD.

“Gloria had risk factors, but she never had a heart problem in the past,” said Dr. Leiboff. “I felt this special need to do whatever I could to help her because she is my patient. It was like a family member coming in.”

Sonja DeVaul, MD, vice chair of Emergency Medicine at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital, thanked the Prince George’s County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for their partnership and for being “an indispensable part of the life-saving system of care.”

To learn more about interventional cardiology at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center, click here.