April 2025
At HonorHealth, we hold ourselves to a higher standard by caring for the whole person, not just their symptoms. Through the support of a generous community, HonorHealth Foundation helps us make the investments to solve healthcare's toughest challenges.
With more than 90 years of experience delivering quality healthcare, no organization knows and understands our communities like we do.
Learn more at HonorHealthFoundation.org
If the sun is shining, the weeds are growing!
If your spring sniffles have arrived with the warmer weather, get some expert tips from Dr. Julie Wendt to feel better fast.
“Patients frequently ask me, ‘What is the green tree with the yellow leaves?'” says Julie Wendt, MD, an allergist and independent member of the HonorHealth Medical Staff. She’s board-certified in allergy and immunology and is the past president of the Arizona Allergy and Asthma Society. “That’s the palo verde tree and one of the Valley’s most common allergy culprits.”
Dr. Wendt says if you have symptoms like a runny nose, sneezing and an itchy or scratchy sore throat every year at the same time, it’s probably allergies. If they come and go with no pattern, it may be a cold or the flu. Colds may have associated aches and pains, fatigue and chest discomfort. If it’s the flu, you may also run a fever.
If you think it’s allergies, she recommends limiting your time outside and keeping your doors and windows closed. Try using HEPA air filters and changing them frequently. Eyedrops, decongestants and antihistamines can help but read the labels first. If you have questions, call your doctor’s office or schedule a quick virtual visit. If you don’t see improvements, Dr. Wendt recommends visiting a board-certified allergist.
“We hold double certifications in either internal medicine or pediatrics, as well as allergy/immunology and are up to date on the latest research and treatment options,” Wendt says.
Treatment options may include allergy shots, especially if you have side effects from over-the-counter medications or other medical issues that may create complications.
“If shots are the best answer to treat your symptoms, your allergist will work with you to get your allergies into remission, this takes about three to five years,” she adds. “Allergy shots are about 85 to 90 percent effective and can really help people that are struggling.”
New hope for heart patients with LVAD
HonorHealth cardiologists are giving new hope to patients who have reached end-stage heart failure. HonorHealth has earned accreditation for its Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) program and has inaugurated the first-ever Artificial Heart Program within the HonorHealth system.
Drs. Geoffrey Jao and Zain Khalpey (pictured) are the medical and surgical directors, respectively, leading a multidisciplinary team of experts to achieve such a milestone.
“With a population of 7.58 million in Arizona, this is a much-needed program to serve our community, ensuring that patients with advanced heart failure have access to lifesaving mechanical circulatory support close to home,” notes Dr. Khalpey.
In this heart program, a mechanical pump is implanted to help patients with a weak heart to pump blood more effectively. This enables the left ventricle, the main pumping chamber of the heart, to send blood to the rest of the body.
The HonorHealth Heart Care Advanced Heart Disease program offers personalized care and a variety of treatment options for heart conditions, including all stages of heart failure.
Meet Teashya, a patient who credits the LVAD with saving her life.
HonorHealth’s new tech playground is making decisions easier for HonorHealth caregivers
Innovation. You hear the word frequently in our ever-advancing world. But how does innovation happen in a healthcare system like HonorHealth? How do you discover the capabilities of a new advancement and ensure that it will integrate effectively with all the other systems and technology in the hospital ecosystem?
The answer? You play with it. Seriously!
And now, thanks to a generous gift to the Foundation from CDW Healthcare Solutions, the HonorHealth/CDW Transformation Center is open for testing.
“The center’s purpose is to try out many solutions to healthcare challenges, keeping only the ones with the greatest potential, then move through a progression of increased testing and evaluation in the simulation environment,” explained Todd Larson (pictured below), who led HonorHealth’s CDW collaboration over the last two years. This rigorous testing enables the technology and operations teams to make better decisions before an innovation is purchased and installed, thus impacting real patient care and the day-to-day work of healthcare providers.
Kim Post, HonorHealth EVP and chief operating officer, is already studying a new technology at the Center.
“I can’t tell you how often our nurses hear from their patients, ‘If I’m supposed to get my rest, why do you keep waking me up during the night?’ Within this center right now, we are testing a new technology that uses wireless remote monitoring to capture vitals in real time,” she explains. The technology eliminates the need to wake the patient throughout the night but provides continuous monitoring, integrated with the electronic medical record.
“Innovation is the first of our ICARE values, and we want to be known as one of the most innovative healthcare systems in the country,” says Todd LaPorte, CEO of HonorHealth. “We’ve cast a bold vision for the future of healthcare. This collaboration with CDW, and what we will accomplish here, helps solidify our reputation for innovation, not only in our community but across the country.”
National Nurses Week is May 6 - 12
HonorHealth is proud to celebrate our nurses, who work diligently to provide expert, compassionate care to our patients. Recently, Howard G., an HonorHealth patient and donor, expressed his gratitude with an Ovation tribute and gift in honor of his nurse, Peg (pictured).
Howard’s donation provided new mobile computer arms, which allow nurses to chart patient notes while still maintaining eye contact with the patient. This seemingly simple gift led to improvements in the patient experience and nurse satisfaction.
One of the reasons I made a donation to the wound care clinic was because of an excellent nurse who for many months dealt with my wound. Her name is Peg. She is just an excellent nurse and has been with HonorHealth for a long time. All of her fellow workers like her a lot as well, you can tell. The ‘old’ system made her have to turn around and not face the patient when she had to type in her notes and was just not interactive enough with the patient. She was the one who came up with the idea to improve the process, by adding new computer arms.
— Howard G., HonorHealth patient
You can recognize an HonorHealth nurse who made a difference for you by submitting an Ovation.
Shop for a Cause at Dillard's, May 9 - 10
Shop at a participating Dillard's on Friday and Saturday, May 9 - 10, and a portion of sales will be donated to HonorHealth Foundation!
Be sure to use one of the designated check-out registers (look for the special balloon)!
Participating Dillard's locations:
Scottsdale Fashion Square
6900 E Camelback Rd.
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Arrowhead Towne Center
7800 W Arrowhead Towne Center
Glendale, AZ 85308
Chandler Fashion Square
3101 W Chandler Blvd.
Chandler, AZ 85226
Superstition Springs
6545 E Southern Ave.
Mesa, AZ 85206
SanTan Village
2151 S Santan Village Pkwy.
Gilbert, AZ 85296
Philanthropic gifts fuel our mission for finding cures,
saving lives and transforming healthcare.
Will you join us?
