September 2, 2025 • 26 mins
Dr. Mary Wilson from CenterWell Senior Primary Care takes us on a compassionate journey through the often-overlooked landscape of senior heart health, revealing why this population deserves specialized attention and care.
The sobering reality of heart disease emerges as Dr. Wilson explains how high blood pressure, cholesterol issues, and diabetes interact to affect the heart's structure and function. "When your blood pressure is high, it makes your heart pump harder. Your heart is a muscle – it gets bigger. But a bigger muscle, especially for your heart, is not a good thing because your heart then cannot pump efficiently." These clear explanations demystify why controlling these conditions is crucial for heart health.
What sets CenterWell apart is their revolutionary approach to senior care. Unlike typical 20-minute appointments, they provide 40-minute sessions allowing providers to truly know their patients – their families, hobbies, and challenges. This extended time creates space for addressing not just medical needs but also social determinants of health that profoundly impact heart conditions.
For seniors facing food deserts or transportation barriers, CenterWell employs community health workers who conduct home assessments and coordinate resources. Their comprehensive care model includes clinical pharmacists reviewing medications, high-risk nurses providing weekly check-ins, and activity centers combating isolation through stretch classes, arts and crafts, and karaoke.
Perhaps most touching is Dr. Wilson's philosophy: "You're twice a child. So if you're twice a child, just like somebody took care of you when you were a child the first time, you need somebody to help take care of you when you're a child the second time." This perspective encapsulates why senior heart care requires special attention and why CenterWell's community-centered approach transforms the aging experience.
Whether you're a senior navigating heart health challenges or a family member supporting a loved one, this episode offers invaluable guidance on warning signs to never ignore and practical steps for heart-healthy living. Visit centerwellseniorprimarycare.com to find one of their eleven locations across the DFW metroplex and experience care that puts seniors at the center of being well.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
I know some people probably had it hard, but I was
blessed.
They ain't never saw my mom anddad in stress.
They only shows.
They said I'm living comfy fromthe sweat off they bags and
that's why all I ever wanted wasto give it back.
I'm not ashamed cause I wasraised right.
I would only be ashamed if Ididn't help you fight through
the pain, Help you drain out thegames that your mind plays.
(00:21):
No matter what, I'm neverletting my shine fade away.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Forever searching for knowledge.
Outro Music.
Hello everyone and welcome backto the Journey Out Podcast.
We are so excited to be talkingto you all today, but I we hit
a milestone yes between lastepisode and this episode, we
have over a thousand subscribers, like y'all.
We are just, we're just soexcited that you guys find
everything that we talk abouthere to be something that is
getting you from one stage tothe next again that exodus
(01:21):
journey, which is why we're here.
So we're so very thankful forall of you guys who are
following and subscribing.
Please continue to share, like,subscribe and comment, uh, and
just make sure that you havethat team around you to kind of
get you from one step to thenext.
Now we have a very specialguest yes yes, dr mary wilson
from center.
Well, senior primary care okay,yes, yes, yes, yes we have her
(01:45):
here today to pretty much talkabout heart health yes, heart
disease and kind of how can weget past that?
Right, that's what we're hereto do today so and get some
effective tips on right and sowelcome, got you, welcome, thank
you, thank you.
So, first and foremost, pleasetell us about yourself, who you
are, what you do and how you doit.
Ok, absolutely.
Speaker 5 (02:06):
My name is Dr Mary Wilson.
I have my doctorate in nursepractice.
Nursing is actually a secondcareer for me.
My first career was a bankexaminer for the FDIC.
You didn't show your moneyRight.
We had a medical emergency withmy father and I switched from
that career to nursing.
(02:26):
Um got my BSN in 2009, got mymaster's in 2015 and got my
doctorate in 2023.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
so awesome congratulations, congratulations
and so you work in.
You work for Cinderella PrimaryTeam.
Yes, I work for CentervillePrimary Senior Care.
Speaker 5 (02:43):
Yes, I work for Centerville Senior Primary Care
in the North Richland Hillslocation.
Awesome.
Well, we have about 600patients, so, yeah, and we are a
Medicare Advantage plan andthen we take those.
We take everything, I believe,except UnitedHealthcare Okay,
awesome.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
All right.
So who is Centerville PrimaryCare?
Speaker 5 (03:05):
Centerville.
Primary Care is you getconcierge service without paying
a concierge price.
We take our time with ourpatients, so your appointment we
normally give you about 40minutes, but typically when you
go to a primary care providerthey probably give you about 20
minutes.
Right, I can tell you about mypatients', animals, their
(03:32):
children, children, theirgrandchildren, their hobbies.
Um, I can see them out inpublic and be able to call them
by name, right?
Um, so that's what you get andyou just get a lot of tlc, right
?
yeah, we love on you, so it's afamily atmosphere absolutely
right, and it's treating themfrom the inside out Correct, but
also through that love like Isaid, and then we also offer
like stretch classes, justthings to get them out of the
house as well.
(03:52):
Awesome, all type of arts,crafts and things like that.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
So, yeah, and I wanted to kind of harp on that
40 minutes.
I don't know anyone who has 40minutes with their provider.
So why was that?
Something Center World wantedto make sure was the game
changer for their seniors.
Speaker 5 (04:09):
So seniors have a lot of chronic conditions, one and
two.
A lot of times we, as theirprovider or the medical staff,
we are the only ones that theywill talk to, or maybe for that
whole week, right.
And so we want to make surethat we give them enough time to
express what's going on withthem and also, if they're just
going through life changes, justto be that listening ear, right
(04:31):
.
I know I tell patients all thetime, just dump it on the floor
Like, get it all out here.
So when you leave out this door, I want you feeling better.
I don't want you feeling thesame way or worse than when you
came in Right.
So the same way or worse thanwhen you came in Right.
So that's important.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Right, it's very important Right, and so I know
one of the most common chronicconditions that we're dealing
with today is heart disease.
First and foremost, what isheart disease?
Speaker 5 (04:54):
Heart disease is when your heart it does not work
properly.
Heart disease can be when youhave high blood pressure, you
have high cholesterol, you havethings that affect that muscle,
because your heart is truly amuscle and so when you have like
, even diabetes, so anythingthat compromises the blood flow
and the structure of the heartis considered heart disease,
(05:16):
right.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Okay, so do other diagnoses affect heart health.
Speaker 5 (05:20):
Yes, okay.
So high blood pressure,especially if it's uncontrolled,
can affect it.
It can affect the structure ofthe heart.
High cholesterol can affect theblood flow that gets to it
because you have the plaquethat's on your vessels, and then
diabetes attacks everymicrovascular vessel in your
(05:41):
body, whether it's your kidneys,your heart, like.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
So we have to be very cautious in keeping those
things within their normal rangeas possible well, you said
something that and, uh, correctme if I'm wrong, but you said
high blood pressure affect thestructure of your heart, correct
?
Speaker 5 (05:58):
explain a little bit on that so when your blood
pressure is high it makes yourheart pump harder.
So your heart is a muscle.
It gets bigger.
But a bigger muscle does,especially for your heart, is
not a good thing, because yourheart then cannot pump it
efficiently because it's gottenbigger.
So imagine if you have like asqueezy ball, like right, okay,
(06:23):
you know, when you normallysqueezing, squeezing it it's
good, but over time you cansqueeze a little easy and it
gets the same thing with yourheart.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yeah, okay.
And so what are some signs orsymptoms of heart problems that
seniors or their families shouldlike never ignore, okay.
Speaker 5 (06:39):
So I always tell patients if you gain two or more
pounds in 24 hours, if you gainfive pounds in a week, if
you're noticing that your legsare swelling all the time, if
you're able to push down on yourleg and it puts a dent in there
, you have some fluid.
If you're getting short ofbreath when you're normally
walking to your kitchen and nowyou can barely take two steps to
(07:03):
your kitchen things like thatokay, yeah okay, perfect, and so
, of course, aging we're allgoing to age, right?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
so that's not something that we can fight
again.
So how does aging normallyimpact the heart in like the
circulatory system?
Speaker 5 (07:19):
so as you get older, um, you start to get those
comorbidities, you start to getlike the high blood pressure and
things like that.
So what we do we also test, likeyour circulation in your legs
to see if you have any type ofvascular disease and also if you
have, like, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes,
(07:41):
copd can affect the heart.
High cholesterol, diabetes, copdcan affect the heart.
Um, if you're overweight, ifyou have any of those two things
and you have the medicareadvantage plan, we actually do a
screening echo to do to screenthe structures of your heart and
to screen the the blood flow,and a lot of patients come back
as being heart failure stage b,which means you have no symptoms
(08:04):
.
So those things that I said,like gaining the two pounds at
24 hours, gaining the fivepounds in a week, you're not
having those things and as longas we keep, like, your copd
under control, you're not havingthe exacerbations, we're
keeping your blood pressure atgoal, your lipids, your um, your
a1c is, it's within range.
We normally can keep you in theasymptomatic.
(08:26):
But once you move to stage Cand you start to have symptoms,
then we actually have to starttreating you with different
medications for the heartfailure.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Okay, you said a little bit about screening, so
what screening or labs should beconducted and how do CenterWell
help with these screenings?
Speaker 5 (08:43):
So you should check your lipids, you should check
your kidney function, which isyour CMP.
It checks your liver, yourelectrolytes, also having at
least a base EKG.
But if you have thosecomorbidities, then getting the
(09:04):
echocardiogram and then the PVRwhich we test to see if you have
some type of vascular.
So for that now we check it.
If you're symptomatic, soyou're saying, hey, my legs keep
swelling, so then we will dothe PVR to check your vascular,
and then if it's worse, I'm sosorry, no, no, no, you're good,
(09:25):
no, you're good.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
No, no, I'm going to say no, you keep on, you're good
, you're okay.
Speaker 5 (09:30):
So if we see that you are having those issues, we
then refer you out to aspecialist A specialist, yeah.
And so typically thespecialists that we refer out to
, we send it to our referralteam.
They check your insurance tosee, hey, yeah, this person's in
network, you see them.
Then the specialists will sendus the note and we send them the
(09:51):
initial notice to why we'resending them, like sending the
labs or the test that we run.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
So it's an open communication with with both
parties and so we all know thatit first starts at home.
Everything starts at home, sohow important is diet and
exercise to reducing heartdisease and having some of those
problems that you've talkedabout?
Speaker 5 (10:15):
Absolutely so.
I'm sure everybody has heard ofa food desert.
We have a lot of food deserts inlow income, which means they
don't have access to healthierfoods to the grocery store, to
the organic foods, so they'reeating more of the foods that
have sodium in them, your cannedgoods, your ramen noodles out
(10:37):
of the pack, things like that,so trying to get them to where
they can get fresh produce.
I know we partner with tarrantcounty um food bank to try and
help with that.
And then also I tell people,don't look at it as exercise,
you just becoming a little bitmore active.
So if you normally walk to yourmailbox to check your mail, if
(10:58):
you do it two extra times,that's that's you becoming more
active.
Because when you say exerciseto people, they think, oh my
goodness, I need to get on atrip, I need to go to the gym.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
I had to get up another day.
Speaker 5 (11:09):
Yes, that's not the case.
My thing is just park furtherout and walk further.
If you're in the mall, you'rein the air condition, just walk
an extra lap or something, butjust become more active.
So I hate saying exercise okay.
Yeah, I just say become moreactive so.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
So, even with becoming active, right, uh, the
patients that are dealing withthese symptoms or things that
they are dealing with tell themwhy it's important, while being
active, it's important to takethe prescribed medication that
is needed take your medication.
Speaker 5 (11:42):
We have so many patients that come in and like,
oh, I didn't take my bloodpressure medicine this morning.
Take your medicine.
If you are on blood pressuremedicine, you need it.
If you are on cholesterolmedication, you need it.
If you have COPD, you have aninhaler.
Those things are chronicconditions.
We're just trying to treat them.
So we're not giving you themedicine just because, oh, we
(12:03):
want to prescribe it.
No, we're giving, trying totreat them.
So we're not giving you themedicine just because, oh, we
want to prescribe it.
No, we're giving it to youbecause it's helping your entire
body.
So I tell everybody take yourmedicine.
Take it even when you come tothe doctor.
Take your medicine so we canknow that it's actually working.
So if I have you on bloodpressure medicine then you come
to the doctor, I don't know ifit's working or not because you
didn't take it.
So those things are important.
(12:23):
So I stress take yourmedications please.
But how it works with theexercise and, like I said, with
the food, all of those thingswork together.
Even American DiabetesAssociation knew at first we
were giving metformin whenpatients were diagnosed
Depending on their A1C.
(12:43):
The first thing now is diet andexercise.
Diet and exercise is importantto so many things.
And even if and a lot of peoplethink diet means, oh, I can't
eat this, I can't eat that Evenyou drink a Coke every day.
If you go to drinking a Cokeevery other day, you will be
amazed at the weight you willlose because of all the sugar.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
So well, I'm sorry, I need to always throw with the
coast.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Don't always do it look, look, I'm so happy you're
here.
I've been trying to tell him,but I think, I think, though,
too, you did hit on somethingthat was profound, I think, when
you talk about the food desertsfor those communities who don't
(13:29):
have access to it.
So let's step into their shoesa little bit.
There is a lot of stress thatcomes along with the life
changes their life situation.
How can and I know that affectsthe heart.
So what is the correlationbetween stress and the heart and
what are some things that theycould potentially do to kind of
(13:50):
help with that?
Speaker 5 (13:52):
Stress is a silent killer.
I want everybody to understandthat.
But if you're a Centervillepatient, we have community
health workers that help you getaccess to those foods that you
need to help relieve that stress.
So our community health workers, they help you get access to
those foods that you need tohelp relieve that stress.
So our community health workersare very important with this.
So they're like the middlemanbetween the clinic, the provider
(14:12):
and life.
So they will go to thepatient's house, they will do an
assessment on the patient.
If something is going wrongwith the patient, then they'll
call us to do a virtual visit ortry and arrange for the patient
to come in as soon as possible.
So at Centerville we do havethose type of interventions
(14:33):
because, we treat the entirepatient.
We don't just treat the medicalpart, we treat the behavioral
health part, we treat the SDOH,the social determinants of
health, yes, and that is soimportant to just your overall
health.
Um, so we, we are big on that.
So if we see that something isgoing on, we even have a
(14:57):
high-risk nurse that will calland check on the patient weekly
to see if they need anything.
They call, call, call us theproviders or the clinic or
whatnot, to make sure that weknow what's going on with the
patient.
So that helps relieve thatstress for those patients that
we have.
So I said that to say if y'allgo, if y'all stressed out, come
(15:17):
to center with so right, so that.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
so you just gave up.
That's some great information.
So listen, why does Cinderellafeel the need to be in the
community like that?
Speaker 5 (15:30):
Geriatrics is a population that I call the
forgotten population, I think,as our loved ones age and then
we become more active, more busyin our lives.
I'm not going to say we forgetabout it, but it's like I hadn't
heard from her, so she must beokay.
So for Sittonville it wasimportant for us to come in and
(15:52):
plant our roots here in DFW.
We have 11 clinics now, so itwas important for us to come in
and we're in every aspect of theMetroplex we're in DeSoto,
Redbird, North Richland Hills,Arlington, Kambooy Seminary, you
name it.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Right.
Speaker 5 (16:09):
There's a center well close to you Awesome.
But it was important that weclose that gap, because the gap
is so big with them just havingaccess Right.
And a lot of the times it's justthey don't have access to
things.
So, center well, it wasimportant for us to come here to
allow the patient to haveaccess, access to specialists.
(16:31):
Centiwell even paid for thetransportation for you to get to
your specialist appointment.
They paid for thetransportation for you to come
to our appointments.
So we truly this is the patientand is Centowheel all around
the patient.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
If we truly practice it, and I love that, because
most times when they're comingto their providers, they're
coming because they need answersand when it's just like, that
20 minute focus of this is whatwe're going to talk about during
this visit, and then you're outthe door.
You don't get that full likecoordination of care, you don't
(17:06):
get that whole person aspectthat you're talking about.
And so let's kind of talk alittle bit about like care
coordination and patientadvocacy.
So how you talked a little bitabout it before, like when you
need to make a referral to thecardiologist and how you're in
the whole process, what doesthat look like?
What does that process looklike with the communication to
the patient, but also with thecardiologist and the whole team?
What does that look like?
What does that process looklike with the communication to
the patient but also with thecardiologist and the whole team?
Speaker 5 (17:26):
So once we see that a referral is needed, the
provider places the referral.
It goes directly to ourreferral team.
They are doing referrals.
If it's just a routine referral, they're normally getting to
them within like five businessdays.
If it's urgent, I believe it'sin like two business days, and
if it's stat, it's within 24hours.
So what they do?
(17:47):
They look at your insurance andthen they find the specialist
that is in network.
They then set up theauthorization, they then call
the patient and they will textthe patient as well to tell them
hey, your referral has beenapproved for the cardiologist.
You're going to this person atthis time.
Uh, please call to confirm theappointment.
And it's as simple as that.
(18:09):
Like the hardest part for themto do truly is to answer the
phone or read the text.
That's it for the patient.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
So yeah, I love that and so I know we've been talking
about the patient, right, butwhat role does like the
caregiver or that family memberplay in the heart health
management after seeing you guys?
Speaker 5 (18:28):
so encourage your loved ones.
Don't fuss at them um theproviders fuss enough so when
they go home.
They don't want to be fussed atright.
So encourage them, um, to say,hey, come on, let's go walk here
, or let's go walk there, orhave you taking your medicine
today, or let's try this for tofor lunch today instead of you
(18:51):
doing a ham sandwich like younormally do, let's try this
salad, you know some, somethinglike that.
But just just to be encouragingand and offer positive
reinforcement, don't criticizethem because they they're
already upset with themselves aswell, because they're like I'm
trying the best that I can.
The last thing I want to do ishave you fussing me my providers
, you know.
So become that positivereinforcement and when they are
(19:13):
doing good, then you can be likeokay, well, let's go do this,
you know.
Give them some type of reward,because that will continue to
encourage them to do better.
Family is important.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Right.
So with that, with the familymember looking out for their
loved one, right, what would yousay?
And they send some signs?
Or family, their loved one nottaking the medication, or things
like that, or they dealing withsomething new that they haven't
seen, what would you say is thebest way for them to get
started To come to Cedarville?
Would you, uh, ask them to do?
Speaker 5 (19:44):
so the family?
I will.
So a lot of family members comewith the patient and I'm going
to make sure that the patient isokay with it and the family
member can chime in and say,well, hey, I've noticed this is
going on with my mom.
And then at that point I willask the patient do you want us
to have this conversation or doyou want them to step out and we
(20:05):
have the conversation?
But a lot of times I havenoticed patients feel like they
are a burden on their family.
Yes, and that is important totalk to them about.
And then I also will talk tothe caregiver as well.
Like, well, mom's feeling thisway, you know, and then they
(20:26):
have that conversation, theyhave a breakthrough.
I'm a therapist most days, moredays than I'm doing medical,
but that's important to breaktheir wall down, because parents
or the, or your grandparents oryour aunts and uncles, they
feel like it's time for them tolive their life.
But I tell them all the timeyou're twice a child.
(20:49):
So if you're twice a child,just like somebody took care of
you when you was a child thefirst time, you need somebody to
help take care of you when youwere a child the second time.
So it's important that theycome to those visits.
Family members notice signs thatI don't notice.
Prime example I had a patient.
She had a UTI, no symptoms, butthe daughter knew.
(21:11):
She just wasn't acting likeherself Because I was like, oh
so she's not having likefreaking urination, burning.
She was like no, she said butI'm telling you, my mom does
this when she has a UTI.
I tested the mom, she had a UTI.
I tested a mom, she had a UTI.
You also have to trust whatthey're telling you, right, you
know?
Because I could have just said,well, I don't believe, so it
(21:31):
kept going, then the mom couldhave got septic in the hospital,
et cetera.
So you have to have that opencommunication with the
caregivers because they are youreyes and ears when you don't
see the patient.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
So you guys have like a little wellness center within
your facilities.
So talk to me a little bitabout that.
And why do something like thatwhen most doctor's offices don't
do that?
Speaker 5 (21:54):
Yes, every clinic has an activity center and the
activity center is where thingstake place.
We do karaoke, um, like I said,we have a stretch where an
actual person that is certifiedin stretching uh comes and
stretches the patients out.
We have like a paint and sip orwhatnot we had.
(22:18):
We also did candle making I'mtrying to think of everything
we've done and we did even sometype of like pottery or
something, and then they madelike a plant with some seeds, I
think like herbs or something,to try and get them to get their
own guard.
But we do those things to keepthem engaged.
We do those things to get themout of the house, because if you
(22:41):
sit in the house all day,you're going to become depressed
, you're going to become down,you know, down Isolation.
So we do those things to getthem out.
And then also for them to meetother patients and they realize
that they're not the only personthat feels that way, right, and
then they, then they form theirbun and their friendship.
So we got some, some patients.
They literally come to playkaraoke, sing karaoke, eat tacos
(23:03):
together and have fun and theyact like they're like have never
seen each other and they justsaw each other last week, right?
So it's.
It's about building that bond.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
And it sounds like Center World is truly in the
community.
Speaker 5 (23:15):
Oh yeah, we are.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Bringing the community out, interactive with
them.
Yes, that's great.
Speaker 5 (23:20):
And Center World is everywhere, and I mean
everywhere.
Our marketing team you look up,you have like 50 new patients,
but that's thanks to ourmarketing team because they are
out in the community andexpressing all those things that
we offer.
But I know it, it sounds like,oh my goodness, but for us at
center, well, that's just thenature, that's, that's just who
(23:44):
we are.
Um, we want the patient to knowthey're supported.
We want the patient and thecaregiver to know that we are a
place that you can come and youcan have all your needs met and
you can walk out the doorknowing that you are the center
of being well.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Look, I couldn't put that in your bed.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Look look, hold on, hold on, no, no, no, listen,
listen, hold on, listen.
She said something.
She act like she can sing alittle bit.
So go on and say that againwith his tongue.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
I mean, I love, I love, I love that, but truly,
but truly the way you guys takecare of your patients and just
really, from the food banks tothe the activities, everything
it's just commendable and Ithank you for taking it because
they're, like you said, theforgotten.
Yes yes population majority ofthe time.
(24:36):
So I thank you for coming ontoday and just telling us about
the excellence of center world,but also the excellence of their
, their staff, because look,you're you.
You're just one piece of thehuge 11 one piece puzzle.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
It's 11 clinics with providers, with referral
coordinators, medical assistants, assistants, front office staff
, chws, the high-risk nurse, thepharmacists.
We actually have a clinicalpharmacist that will go through
our patients' medications andgive us recommendations.
So we have it all.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
One piece or the other, and I know they all think
just like you, and so they'rein good hands.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
So do me a favor.
Yes, let the people know howthey can get in contact with
CenterWell.
Speaker 5 (25:18):
So Google, centerwell and I promise all 11 locations
are going to come and then youjust pick the location that's
closest to you and then they'llthen call and schedule the
appointment.
And then you may have to dosome tweaks with your insurance
just to make sure that you havea Medicare Advantage plan, but
we have people to help with that.
(25:39):
So it's just a matter ofpicking up the phone and calling
your local clinic that'sclosest to you.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Awesome, awesome.
Well, dr Mary, it was anabsolute pleasure to have you on
the journey you did absolutelyamazing and we thank you for
just the invaluable informationthat you have given us you guys.
That is it for today's episode.
We hope you guys found itinforming.
We hope that you found it justsomething that you can bring to
(26:04):
your family, say, hey, mom, dad,sister, whomever cinderella has
your back as, as you're agingand going, you're in good hands
here and and here on the journalpodcast this is more again,
like she said, information tohelp you with inside your home
Right, so you can be a resourceto your family and also a
resource to your community.
And so with that, we are out,peace out.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
Hello, I am Germany Murphy and I am the activity
coordinator for CenterwellSenior Primary Care, and if you
want to get in touch withCenterwell, learn a little bit
more, you can go tocenterwellseniorprimarycarecom
where you can find locations,the number and different
activities we are doing inCenter.
So come out and join us.
I know some people probably had it hard, but I was
blessed.
They ain't never saw my mom anddad in stress.
They only shows.
They said I'm living comfy fromthe sweat off they bags and
that's why all I ever wanted wasto give it back.
I'm not ashamed cause I wasraised right.
I would only be ashamed if Ididn't help you fight through
the pain, Help you drain out thegames that your mind plays.
(00:21):
No matter what, I'm neverletting my shine fade away.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Forever searching for knowledge.
Outro Music.
Hello everyone and welcome backto the Journey Out Podcast.
We are so excited to be talkingto you all today, but I we hit
a milestone yes between lastepisode and this episode, we
have over a thousand subscribers, like y'all.
We are just, we're just soexcited that you guys find
everything that we talk abouthere to be something that is
getting you from one stage tothe next again that exodus
(01:21):
journey, which is why we're here.
So we're so very thankful forall of you guys who are
following and subscribing.
Please continue to share, like,subscribe and comment, uh, and
just make sure that you havethat team around you to kind of
get you from one step to thenext.
Now we have a very specialguest yes yes, dr mary wilson
from center.
Well, senior primary care okay,yes, yes, yes, yes we have her
(01:45):
here today to pretty much talkabout heart health yes, heart
disease and kind of how can weget past that?
Right, that's what we're hereto do today so and get some
effective tips on right and sowelcome, got you, welcome, thank
you, thank you.
So, first and foremost, pleasetell us about yourself, who you
are, what you do and how you doit.
Ok, absolutely.
Speaker 5 (02:06):
My name is Dr Mary Wilson.
I have my doctorate in nursepractice.
Nursing is actually a secondcareer for me.
My first career was a bankexaminer for the FDIC.
You didn't show your moneyRight.
We had a medical emergency withmy father and I switched from
that career to nursing.
(02:26):
Um got my BSN in 2009, got mymaster's in 2015 and got my
doctorate in 2023.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
so awesome congratulations, congratulations
and so you work in.
You work for Cinderella PrimaryTeam.
Yes, I work for CentervillePrimary Senior Care.
Speaker 5 (02:43):
Yes, I work for Centerville Senior Primary Care
in the North Richland Hillslocation.
Awesome.
Well, we have about 600patients, so, yeah, and we are a
Medicare Advantage plan andthen we take those.
We take everything, I believe,except UnitedHealthcare Okay,
awesome.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
All right.
So who is Centerville PrimaryCare?
Speaker 5 (03:05):
Centerville.
Primary Care is you getconcierge service without paying
a concierge price.
We take our time with ourpatients, so your appointment we
normally give you about 40minutes, but typically when you
go to a primary care providerthey probably give you about 20
minutes.
Right, I can tell you about mypatients', animals, their
(03:32):
children, children, theirgrandchildren, their hobbies.
Um, I can see them out inpublic and be able to call them
by name, right?
Um, so that's what you get andyou just get a lot of tlc, right
?
yeah, we love on you, so it's afamily atmosphere absolutely
right, and it's treating themfrom the inside out Correct, but
also through that love like Isaid, and then we also offer
like stretch classes, justthings to get them out of the
house as well.
(03:52):
Awesome, all type of arts,crafts and things like that.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
So, yeah, and I wanted to kind of harp on that
40 minutes.
I don't know anyone who has 40minutes with their provider.
So why was that?
Something Center World wantedto make sure was the game
changer for their seniors.
Speaker 5 (04:09):
So seniors have a lot of chronic conditions, one and
two.
A lot of times we, as theirprovider or the medical staff,
we are the only ones that theywill talk to, or maybe for that
whole week, right.
And so we want to make surethat we give them enough time to
express what's going on withthem and also, if they're just
going through life changes, justto be that listening ear, right
(04:31):
.
I know I tell patients all thetime, just dump it on the floor
Like, get it all out here.
So when you leave out this door, I want you feeling better.
I don't want you feeling thesame way or worse than when you
came in Right.
So the same way or worse thanwhen you came in Right.
So that's important.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Right, it's very important Right, and so I know
one of the most common chronicconditions that we're dealing
with today is heart disease.
First and foremost, what isheart disease?
Speaker 5 (04:54):
Heart disease is when your heart it does not work
properly.
Heart disease can be when youhave high blood pressure, you
have high cholesterol, you havethings that affect that muscle,
because your heart is truly amuscle and so when you have like
, even diabetes, so anythingthat compromises the blood flow
and the structure of the heartis considered heart disease,
(05:16):
right.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Okay, so do other diagnoses affect heart health.
Speaker 5 (05:20):
Yes, okay.
So high blood pressure,especially if it's uncontrolled,
can affect it.
It can affect the structure ofthe heart.
High cholesterol can affect theblood flow that gets to it
because you have the plaquethat's on your vessels, and then
diabetes attacks everymicrovascular vessel in your
(05:41):
body, whether it's your kidneys,your heart, like.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
So we have to be very cautious in keeping those
things within their normal rangeas possible well, you said
something that and, uh, correctme if I'm wrong, but you said
high blood pressure affect thestructure of your heart, correct
?
Speaker 5 (05:58):
explain a little bit on that so when your blood
pressure is high it makes yourheart pump harder.
So your heart is a muscle.
It gets bigger.
But a bigger muscle does,especially for your heart, is
not a good thing, because yourheart then cannot pump it
efficiently because it's gottenbigger.
So imagine if you have like asqueezy ball, like right, okay,
(06:23):
you know, when you normallysqueezing, squeezing it it's
good, but over time you cansqueeze a little easy and it
gets the same thing with yourheart.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yeah, okay.
And so what are some signs orsymptoms of heart problems that
seniors or their families shouldlike never ignore, okay.
Speaker 5 (06:39):
So I always tell patients if you gain two or more
pounds in 24 hours, if you gainfive pounds in a week, if
you're noticing that your legsare swelling all the time, if
you're able to push down on yourleg and it puts a dent in there
, you have some fluid.
If you're getting short ofbreath when you're normally
walking to your kitchen and nowyou can barely take two steps to
(07:03):
your kitchen things like thatokay, yeah okay, perfect, and so
, of course, aging we're allgoing to age, right?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
so that's not something that we can fight
again.
So how does aging normallyimpact the heart in like the
circulatory system?
Speaker 5 (07:19):
so as you get older, um, you start to get those
comorbidities, you start to getlike the high blood pressure and
things like that.
So what we do we also test, likeyour circulation in your legs
to see if you have any type ofvascular disease and also if you
have, like, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes,
(07:41):
copd can affect the heart.
High cholesterol, diabetes, copdcan affect the heart.
Um, if you're overweight, ifyou have any of those two things
and you have the medicareadvantage plan, we actually do a
screening echo to do to screenthe structures of your heart and
to screen the the blood flow,and a lot of patients come back
as being heart failure stage b,which means you have no symptoms
(08:04):
.
So those things that I said,like gaining the two pounds at
24 hours, gaining the fivepounds in a week, you're not
having those things and as longas we keep, like, your copd
under control, you're not havingthe exacerbations, we're
keeping your blood pressure atgoal, your lipids, your um, your
a1c is, it's within range.
We normally can keep you in theasymptomatic.
(08:26):
But once you move to stage Cand you start to have symptoms,
then we actually have to starttreating you with different
medications for the heartfailure.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Okay, you said a little bit about screening, so
what screening or labs should beconducted and how do CenterWell
help with these screenings?
Speaker 5 (08:43):
So you should check your lipids, you should check
your kidney function, which isyour CMP.
It checks your liver, yourelectrolytes, also having at
least a base EKG.
But if you have thosecomorbidities, then getting the
(09:04):
echocardiogram and then the PVRwhich we test to see if you have
some type of vascular.
So for that now we check it.
If you're symptomatic, soyou're saying, hey, my legs keep
swelling, so then we will dothe PVR to check your vascular,
and then if it's worse, I'm sosorry, no, no, no, you're good,
(09:25):
no, you're good.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
No, no, I'm going to say no, you keep on, you're good
, you're okay.
Speaker 5 (09:30):
So if we see that you are having those issues, we
then refer you out to aspecialist A specialist, yeah.
And so typically thespecialists that we refer out to
, we send it to our referralteam.
They check your insurance tosee, hey, yeah, this person's in
network, you see them.
Then the specialists will sendus the note and we send them the
(09:51):
initial notice to why we'resending them, like sending the
labs or the test that we run.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
So it's an open communication with with both
parties and so we all know thatit first starts at home.
Everything starts at home, sohow important is diet and
exercise to reducing heartdisease and having some of those
problems that you've talkedabout?
Speaker 5 (10:15):
Absolutely so.
I'm sure everybody has heard ofa food desert.
We have a lot of food deserts inlow income, which means they
don't have access to healthierfoods to the grocery store, to
the organic foods, so they'reeating more of the foods that
have sodium in them, your cannedgoods, your ramen noodles out
(10:37):
of the pack, things like that,so trying to get them to where
they can get fresh produce.
I know we partner with tarrantcounty um food bank to try and
help with that.
And then also I tell people,don't look at it as exercise,
you just becoming a little bitmore active.
So if you normally walk to yourmailbox to check your mail, if
(10:58):
you do it two extra times,that's that's you becoming more
active.
Because when you say exerciseto people, they think, oh my
goodness, I need to get on atrip, I need to go to the gym.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
I had to get up another day.
Speaker 5 (11:09):
Yes, that's not the case.
My thing is just park furtherout and walk further.
If you're in the mall, you'rein the air condition, just walk
an extra lap or something, butjust become more active.
So I hate saying exercise okay.
Yeah, I just say become moreactive so.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
So, even with becoming active, right, uh, the
patients that are dealing withthese symptoms or things that
they are dealing with tell themwhy it's important, while being
active, it's important to takethe prescribed medication that
is needed take your medication.
Speaker 5 (11:42):
We have so many patients that come in and like,
oh, I didn't take my bloodpressure medicine this morning.
Take your medicine.
If you are on blood pressuremedicine, you need it.
If you are on cholesterolmedication, you need it.
If you have COPD, you have aninhaler.
Those things are chronicconditions.
We're just trying to treat them.
So we're not giving you themedicine just because, oh, we
(12:03):
want to prescribe it.
No, we're giving, trying totreat them.
So we're not giving you themedicine just because, oh, we
want to prescribe it.
No, we're giving it to youbecause it's helping your entire
body.
So I tell everybody take yourmedicine.
Take it even when you come tothe doctor.
Take your medicine so we canknow that it's actually working.
So if I have you on bloodpressure medicine then you come
to the doctor, I don't know ifit's working or not because you
didn't take it.
So those things are important.
(12:23):
So I stress take yourmedications please.
But how it works with theexercise and, like I said, with
the food, all of those thingswork together.
Even American DiabetesAssociation knew at first we
were giving metformin whenpatients were diagnosed
Depending on their A1C.
(12:43):
The first thing now is diet andexercise.
Diet and exercise is importantto so many things.
And even if and a lot of peoplethink diet means, oh, I can't
eat this, I can't eat that Evenyou drink a Coke every day.
If you go to drinking a Cokeevery other day, you will be
amazed at the weight you willlose because of all the sugar.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
So well, I'm sorry, I need to always throw with the
coast.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Don't always do it look, look, I'm so happy you're
here.
I've been trying to tell him,but I think, I think, though,
too, you did hit on somethingthat was profound, I think, when
you talk about the food desertsfor those communities who don't
(13:29):
have access to it.
So let's step into their shoesa little bit.
There is a lot of stress thatcomes along with the life
changes their life situation.
How can and I know that affectsthe heart.
So what is the correlationbetween stress and the heart and
what are some things that theycould potentially do to kind of
(13:50):
help with that?
Speaker 5 (13:52):
Stress is a silent killer.
I want everybody to understandthat.
But if you're a Centervillepatient, we have community
health workers that help you getaccess to those foods that you
need to help relieve that stress.
So our community health workers, they help you get access to
those foods that you need tohelp relieve that stress.
So our community health workersare very important with this.
So they're like the middlemanbetween the clinic, the provider
(14:12):
and life.
So they will go to thepatient's house, they will do an
assessment on the patient.
If something is going wrongwith the patient, then they'll
call us to do a virtual visit ortry and arrange for the patient
to come in as soon as possible.
So at Centerville we do havethose type of interventions
(14:33):
because, we treat the entirepatient.
We don't just treat the medicalpart, we treat the behavioral
health part, we treat the SDOH,the social determinants of
health, yes, and that is soimportant to just your overall
health.
Um, so we, we are big on that.
So if we see that something isgoing on, we even have a
(14:57):
high-risk nurse that will calland check on the patient weekly
to see if they need anything.
They call, call, call us theproviders or the clinic or
whatnot, to make sure that weknow what's going on with the
patient.
So that helps relieve thatstress for those patients that
we have.
So I said that to say if y'allgo, if y'all stressed out, come
(15:17):
to center with so right, so that.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
so you just gave up.
That's some great information.
So listen, why does Cinderellafeel the need to be in the
community like that?
Speaker 5 (15:30):
Geriatrics is a population that I call the
forgotten population, I think,as our loved ones age and then
we become more active, more busyin our lives.
I'm not going to say we forgetabout it, but it's like I hadn't
heard from her, so she must beokay.
So for Sittonville it wasimportant for us to come in and
(15:52):
plant our roots here in DFW.
We have 11 clinics now, so itwas important for us to come in
and we're in every aspect of theMetroplex we're in DeSoto,
Redbird, North Richland Hills,Arlington, Kambooy Seminary, you
name it.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Right.
Speaker 5 (16:09):
There's a center well close to you Awesome.
But it was important that weclose that gap, because the gap
is so big with them just havingaccess Right.
And a lot of the times it's justthey don't have access to
things.
So, center well, it wasimportant for us to come here to
allow the patient to haveaccess, access to specialists.
(16:31):
Centiwell even paid for thetransportation for you to get to
your specialist appointment.
They paid for thetransportation for you to come
to our appointments.
So we truly this is the patientand is Centowheel all around
the patient.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
If we truly practice it, and I love that, because
most times when they're comingto their providers, they're
coming because they need answersand when it's just like, that
20 minute focus of this is whatwe're going to talk about during
this visit, and then you're outthe door.
You don't get that full likecoordination of care, you don't
(17:06):
get that whole person aspectthat you're talking about.
And so let's kind of talk alittle bit about like care
coordination and patientadvocacy.
So how you talked a little bitabout it before, like when you
need to make a referral to thecardiologist and how you're in
the whole process, what doesthat look like?
What does that process looklike with the communication to
the patient, but also with thecardiologist and the whole team?
What does that look like?
What does that process looklike with the communication to
the patient but also with thecardiologist and the whole team?
Speaker 5 (17:26):
So once we see that a referral is needed, the
provider places the referral.
It goes directly to ourreferral team.
They are doing referrals.
If it's just a routine referral, they're normally getting to
them within like five businessdays.
If it's urgent, I believe it'sin like two business days, and
if it's stat, it's within 24hours.
So what they do?
(17:47):
They look at your insurance andthen they find the specialist
that is in network.
They then set up theauthorization, they then call
the patient and they will textthe patient as well to tell them
hey, your referral has beenapproved for the cardiologist.
You're going to this person atthis time.
Uh, please call to confirm theappointment.
And it's as simple as that.
(18:09):
Like the hardest part for themto do truly is to answer the
phone or read the text.
That's it for the patient.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
So yeah, I love that and so I know we've been talking
about the patient, right, butwhat role does like the
caregiver or that family memberplay in the heart health
management after seeing you guys?
Speaker 5 (18:28):
so encourage your loved ones.
Don't fuss at them um theproviders fuss enough so when
they go home.
They don't want to be fussed atright.
So encourage them, um, to say,hey, come on, let's go walk here
, or let's go walk there, orhave you taking your medicine
today, or let's try this for tofor lunch today instead of you
(18:51):
doing a ham sandwich like younormally do, let's try this
salad, you know some, somethinglike that.
But just just to be encouragingand and offer positive
reinforcement, don't criticizethem because they they're
already upset with themselves aswell, because they're like I'm
trying the best that I can.
The last thing I want to do ishave you fussing me my providers
, you know.
So become that positivereinforcement and when they are
(19:13):
doing good, then you can be likeokay, well, let's go do this,
you know.
Give them some type of reward,because that will continue to
encourage them to do better.
Family is important.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Right.
So with that, with the familymember looking out for their
loved one, right, what would yousay?
And they send some signs?
Or family, their loved one nottaking the medication, or things
like that, or they dealing withsomething new that they haven't
seen, what would you say is thebest way for them to get
started To come to Cedarville?
Would you, uh, ask them to do?
Speaker 5 (19:44):
so the family?
I will.
So a lot of family members comewith the patient and I'm going
to make sure that the patient isokay with it and the family
member can chime in and say,well, hey, I've noticed this is
going on with my mom.
And then at that point I willask the patient do you want us
to have this conversation or doyou want them to step out and we
(20:05):
have the conversation?
But a lot of times I havenoticed patients feel like they
are a burden on their family.
Yes, and that is important totalk to them about.
And then I also will talk tothe caregiver as well.
Like, well, mom's feeling thisway, you know, and then they
(20:26):
have that conversation, theyhave a breakthrough.
I'm a therapist most days, moredays than I'm doing medical,
but that's important to breaktheir wall down, because parents
or the, or your grandparents oryour aunts and uncles, they
feel like it's time for them tolive their life.
But I tell them all the timeyou're twice a child.
(20:49):
So if you're twice a child,just like somebody took care of
you when you was a child thefirst time, you need somebody to
help take care of you when youwere a child the second time.
So it's important that theycome to those visits.
Family members notice signs thatI don't notice.
Prime example I had a patient.
She had a UTI, no symptoms, butthe daughter knew.
(21:11):
She just wasn't acting likeherself Because I was like, oh
so she's not having likefreaking urination, burning.
She was like no, she said butI'm telling you, my mom does
this when she has a UTI.
I tested the mom, she had a UTI.
I tested a mom, she had a UTI.
You also have to trust whatthey're telling you, right, you
know?
Because I could have just said,well, I don't believe, so it
(21:31):
kept going, then the mom couldhave got septic in the hospital,
et cetera.
So you have to have that opencommunication with the
caregivers because they are youreyes and ears when you don't
see the patient.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
So you guys have like a little wellness center within
your facilities.
So talk to me a little bitabout that.
And why do something like thatwhen most doctor's offices don't
do that?
Speaker 5 (21:54):
Yes, every clinic has an activity center and the
activity center is where thingstake place.
We do karaoke, um, like I said,we have a stretch where an
actual person that is certifiedin stretching uh comes and
stretches the patients out.
We have like a paint and sip orwhatnot we had.
(22:18):
We also did candle making I'mtrying to think of everything
we've done and we did even sometype of like pottery or
something, and then they madelike a plant with some seeds, I
think like herbs or something,to try and get them to get their
own guard.
But we do those things to keepthem engaged.
We do those things to get themout of the house, because if you
(22:41):
sit in the house all day,you're going to become depressed
, you're going to become down,you know, down Isolation.
So we do those things to getthem out.
And then also for them to meetother patients and they realize
that they're not the only personthat feels that way, right, and
then they, then they form theirbun and their friendship.
So we got some, some patients.
They literally come to playkaraoke, sing karaoke, eat tacos
(23:03):
together and have fun and theyact like they're like have never
seen each other and they justsaw each other last week, right?
So it's.
It's about building that bond.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
And it sounds like Center World is truly in the
community.
Speaker 5 (23:15):
Oh yeah, we are.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Bringing the community out, interactive with
them.
Yes, that's great.
Speaker 5 (23:20):
And Center World is everywhere, and I mean
everywhere.
Our marketing team you look up,you have like 50 new patients,
but that's thanks to ourmarketing team because they are
out in the community andexpressing all those things that
we offer.
But I know it, it sounds like,oh my goodness, but for us at
center, well, that's just thenature, that's, that's just who
(23:44):
we are.
Um, we want the patient to knowthey're supported.
We want the patient and thecaregiver to know that we are a
place that you can come and youcan have all your needs met and
you can walk out the doorknowing that you are the center
of being well.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Look, I couldn't put that in your bed.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Look look, hold on, hold on, no, no, no, listen,
listen, hold on, listen.
She said something.
She act like she can sing alittle bit.
So go on and say that againwith his tongue.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
I mean, I love, I love, I love that, but truly,
but truly the way you guys takecare of your patients and just
really, from the food banks tothe the activities, everything
it's just commendable and Ithank you for taking it because
they're, like you said, theforgotten.
Yes yes population majority ofthe time.
(24:36):
So I thank you for coming ontoday and just telling us about
the excellence of center world,but also the excellence of their
, their staff, because look,you're you.
You're just one piece of thehuge 11 one piece puzzle.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
It's 11 clinics with providers, with referral
coordinators, medical assistants, assistants, front office staff
, chws, the high-risk nurse, thepharmacists.
We actually have a clinicalpharmacist that will go through
our patients' medications andgive us recommendations.
So we have it all.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
One piece or the other, and I know they all think
just like you, and so they'rein good hands.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
So do me a favor.
Yes, let the people know howthey can get in contact with
CenterWell.
Speaker 5 (25:18):
So Google, centerwell and I promise all 11 locations
are going to come and then youjust pick the location that's
closest to you and then they'llthen call and schedule the
appointment.
And then you may have to dosome tweaks with your insurance
just to make sure that you havea Medicare Advantage plan, but
we have people to help with that.
(25:39):
So it's just a matter ofpicking up the phone and calling
your local clinic that'sclosest to you.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Awesome, awesome.
Well, dr Mary, it was anabsolute pleasure to have you on
the journey you did absolutelyamazing and we thank you for
just the invaluable informationthat you have given us you guys.
That is it for today's episode.
We hope you guys found itinforming.
We hope that you found it justsomething that you can bring to
(26:04):
your family, say, hey, mom, dad,sister, whomever cinderella has
your back as, as you're agingand going, you're in good hands
here and and here on the journalpodcast this is more again,
like she said, information tohelp you with inside your home
Right, so you can be a resourceto your family and also a
resource to your community.
And so with that, we are out,peace out.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
Hello, I am Germany Murphy and I am the activity
coordinator for CenterwellSenior Primary Care, and if you
want to get in touch withCenterwell, learn a little bit
more, you can go tocenterwellseniorprimarycarecom
where you can find locations,the number and different
activities we are doing inCenter.
So come out and join us.
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