Dr. Arie Szatkowski knows the pain associated with heart disease firsthand. Three weeks before he began classes at Cornell Medical College, his father passed suddenly of a heart attack. “One Saturday I came home from a party, and my mother walked back into the bedroom and told me he was gone,” he said. “It was that point that I knew I was going into cardiology.”

Szatkowski, the director of cardiovascular services at Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto in northwest Mississippi, has since made it his life’s duty to spearhead the fight against heart disease. “It was really all I knew. I didn’t think about being a lawyer, I didn’t think about business – it’s just what I wanted to do,” he said.
As head of the busiest cardiology clinic in Mississippi, Szatkowski’s job keeps him occupied. He meets with 25 to 30 patients on an average day, while the rest of his time is spent organizing cardiovascular line meetings, delivering talks, reviewing newly published studies and coordinating new programs. The Brooklyn native has become a familiar face and natural leader at Baptist DeSoto during his nine years as a mid-southerner. “Anything that needs to get done or be moved forward, I get it done,” he said.

A color-coded map of the United States hangs in Szatkowski’s office, marked in different shades of red to signify areas with a high number of deaths due to cardiovascular disease. The entire Mississippi region is colored a deep crimson hue, marking its status as the cardiovascular disease capital of the country. Heart disease accounted for nearly 40 percent of deaths in the state in 2007. The area’s high concentration of obesity, stroke and heart disease has earned the region the title of “Stroke Alley.”

This prevalence has led to a high degree of familiarity with cardiovascular ailments among Szatkowski and his staff, a factor that contributed to Baptist DeSoto’s status as the top heart health center in the state, according to a recent HealthGrades report. Despite being one of the biggest and busiest cardiovascular care facilities in the region, Baptist DeSoto’s response rate ranks 30 minutes faster than the national average. “We get them into the lab faster, fix them faster and are more likely to get them out alive and without complication,” Szatkowski said.

While Baptist DeSoto’s cardiology experts rank nationally among the best and speediest caretakers in the region, Szatkowski aims to emphasize the importance of prevention to keep patients from ever entering the hospital doors by educating the population and attempting to change the culture associated with heart problems.

Prevention has played a role in Szatkowski’s own cardiovascular health. In addition to the death of his father, Szatkowski’s career choice was spurred on by the discovery of potentially devastating problems in his own heart. On the first day of residency at Columbia University, an echocardiogram performed by an instructor revealed that Szatkowski had an enlarged heart. The cause was an artial septal defect; a hole in his heart. “Had I not gone into cardiology and found that hole, I probably would have one day presented arrhythmias, congestive heart failure or even a stroke,” he said. Szatkowski’s problem was eventually fixed via a procedure he now performs himself at Baptist DeSoto.

According to Szatkowski, the breadth of services provided by the hospital offers a huge opportunity to bring together formerly disparate groups. Under Szatkowski’s guidance, Baptist DeSoto has implemented a plethora of programs that aim to encourage a heart-healthy lifestyle in patients. In addition to the BOOST program, which is focused on reducing rehospitalization, and a clinic to manage and follow patients with valvular disease, Szatkowski has pushed for a unified cardiac service line that combines the many different departments and divisions associated with heart health at Baptist DeSoto. “There’s a lot of people, a lot of politics and a lot of personalities with a common goal—improving patient outcomes,” Szatkowski said.

In addition to general prevention, Szatkowski and the team of doctors at Baptist DeSoto offer round-the-clock service and work to assess a broad spectrum of underlying causes of heart disease, including overmedication, psychosocial issues and diet. “Sometimes I get started at 6 or 7 a.m. and don’t get done till 9 o’clock,” he said. “To do this, you have to love it. And be willing to give up a lot of luxuries.”