By Mike McLean for the Spokane Journal
The Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention Center, of Spokane, is recovering from some growing pains.
The center, which is the flagship clinic of Bale/Doneen Method of heart attack prevention, recently expanded, adding a part-time provider and nearly doubling its space at 507 S. Washington, says Amy Doneen, medical director and clinic co-founder.
Meantime, academic and professional interest in the Bale/Doneen Method is continuing to grow, Doneen says.
Doneen, who holds a doctorate in nursing practice from Gonzaga University, is the principal provider at the clinic, which recently was joined by Dr. Pierre Leimgruber, a longtime Spokane physician, formerly with Providence Spokane Cardiology.
Leimgruber practiced 32 years as an interventional cardiologist, performing thousands of angioplasties and stent placements for patients with severe cardiovascular disease.
“He was looking at retirement from invasive cardiology, and he’s always been supportive of the preventive message,” Doneen says. “He’s coming over on a part-time basis and switching hats from doing traditional cardiology to 100 percent prevention.”
Doneen and Dr. Bradley F. Bale, a family physician formerly of Spokane, developed the Bale/Doneen Method, which focuses on optimizing blood-vessel health as a key to preventing heart disease and strokes.
Bale moved in 2006 to Lubbock, Texas, where he currently is the medical director for the Grace Clinic Hearth Health Program. He also has a private clinical practice in Nashville, Tenn.
The Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention Center here is a fee-for-service practice. Individual patients pay $2,600 annually and families pay $2,400 annually per participating member. The fee entitles patients to a minimum of quarterly visits and also covers any other appointments or unscheduled care throughout the year.
“People pay an annual fee and get unlimited care from me to make sure that those arteries stay healthy,” Doneen says.
The Bale/Doneen Method isn’t just about preventing a heart attack, Doneen says.
