Providence St. Vincent Heart Clinic

I have been in this clinic in the Mother Joseph Building by Providence St. Vincent quite a bit. The parking garage is a freaking nightmare. Once you get through THAT, the front desk and clinic staff are super nice though. Appointments tend to run exactly on time. Love that!
My nearly 87 year old father moved to Oregon (after a divorce at 80 from the stepmonster… yeah that really happened) bringing his hypermedically focused (Dr appointments are a fun outing for him) post quintuple bypass surgery self and his inflated expectations that I would manage his healthcare with him. Sigh. Yeah. I’m it. My brother doesnt speak to him. Our Dad is… er…challenging.
I had been to the ER once a long time ago with chest pain (stress) and seen Dr. Jean Phillips and she was funny and kind and sharp. So I took my dad in to see her too. He’s a big inappropriate, bawdy flirt and she thinks he’s a funny charming character so that has totally worked out. She’s so cool that when she spotted my Queen Bee Bag she said «NO way!» And ran out to grab her identical– to –mine bag from her desk to show it to me. What cardiac goddess DOES that? Well. She does.
We have a Queen Bee bond now.
The nurses and OHSU residents have all been great with my Dad. At this point his heart and lung functions are pretty limited so it’s about keeping him comfortable, five years and like twenty trips to the hospital ago he had 6 months to live… as much as a cranky Walter Matthau meets those old muppet guys in the balcony crochety old dude COULD be comfortable. They’ve achieved the comfortable part. Hes on quite a cocktail but as you can tell, hes tenacious.
My ex had a heart attack recently and went to the same clinic for followup on his stent and medications. He liked the doctor and the clinic. He doesnt usually like anything medical. Hes pretty pissed he had a heart attack but very satisfied with his medical care.
Today was my turn. My chest bothered me a few weeks back and given my ex’s recent thing, my DNA, and the stress Im under I went to the er. They didnt find anything but I had to follow up, too. Dr Phillips isnt available till September (shes super busy) so I saw Dr. James Gregg Beckerman who was really nice and efficient. His assistant was lovely. (she remembered me from my Dad’s appointments). My ekg etc was all good. I liked that they gowned me for the ekg but let me get dressed before meeting the doctor for the first time. Much more dignified. Lucky me, now I get to go have a stress test just to make sure I am ok. Yay.
Despite my lack of enthusiasm (those tests are not super fun), given the number of peeps I take care of, I will do that. This clinic really has been very reasonable with my dad’s care and my ex’s. I think they’re good people. If you have to see a cardiologist on the west side this is a good choice.
Just watch the parking garage. It’s like a driver’s ed movie in there.