PLATTSBURGH — In more than three decades of local practice, Dr. John Baker has played an integral role in the development of a robust cardiology program for the North Country.
Baker, who came to Plattsburgh as a young cardiologist in 1978, was instrumental in opening the CVPH Medical Center's Catheterization Lab a few years later. He also remained in the trenches of regional cardiac care as CVPH expanded its program to include angioplasty and open-heart surgery over the decades.
Baker retired from active practice earlier this year but will return to the medical arena Thursday night as guest of the CVPH Cardiology Department's lecture program, "The Fats of Life," with Susannah Levon, CVPH dietician and associate professor of nutrition at Plattsburgh State.
"The changes in cardiac care are huge," Baker said in describing the improved care cardiac patients receive in the 21st century. "New treatments, coronary intervention, it's all drastically improved."
Today's emphatic focus on healthy lifestyles has also assisted in the battle against heart disease, he added. With improved diets and regular exercise, people are playing a role in improving their health as well.
"Stats for cardiac mortality rates are greatly improved," he said, citing such programs as CVPH's cardiac-intervention program that literally saves lives when patients are suffering heart attacks and receive care in the hospital's cath labs.
He also praised the public's continued efforts to reduce overall smoking numbers. Smoking continues to be a major cause of heart disease, he noted.
However, a growing problem with obesity threatens to offset the advances health care has seen from a reduced smoking population. Levon's presentation Thursday will address the connection between diet and heart disease.
Baker praised the hospital's administration, which he said has always supported the cardiac program from those early days when CVPH battled through the permitting process to open a local cath lab in 1990 up to the more recent efforts to bring a full-fledged cardiology service to Plattsburgh.
"It's a solid program," he said of the CVPH Heart Center. "I'm very pleased with how everything has turned out."
After finishing medical school and his residency, Baker was drafted and spent two years in Germany as a cardiologist for the U.S. Army. When he returned to civilian life, he and his wife decided to relocate in Plattsburgh.
The only options for working in a cath lab at the time were found in large city hospitals, and the Bakers wanted to raise their children in a small-town community, he recalled of his decision to work in Plattsburgh rather than a more urban setting.
"We had a good foundation (for a fledgling cardiac program) with Dr. (Michael) Moynihan (CVPH chief of staff), Dr. (Richard) Paulus, Dr. (Dean) Wheeler and Dr. (Howard) Walker," he said of his fellow cardiologists during those early years. "Things have evolved very nicely from there."
As a medical student, Baker was attracted to internal medicine and its ability to diagnose and treat problems. He moved toward cardiac care because it offered him the dual opportunity to work with his hands and to analyze medical situations.
"I've seen people desperately seeking help," he said. "It's been an honor for me to serve those people as best I can.
"I miss my patients," he added of his recent retirement. "I miss work, but it was time to step down."
But he praised once again the care North Country residents can receive locally, including the hospital's Cardiac Care Program, a service he required of all his patients.
Baker will introduce Levon at Thursday's program and will be on hand to renew acquaintances during a reception to follow.
E-mail Jeff Meyers at: jmeyers@pressrepublican.com
