Tim Borchert, a member of the Silver Cross Foundation Board of Directors, and his wife, Connie, attended a Silver Cross Community Trustees luncheon at the hospital last year when they heard about the Silver Cross Heart Scan offered for only $49.

At Connie’s urging, Borchert scheduled a heart scan at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox. It’s a quick test that takes maybe less than 10 minutes. In Borchert’s case, those few minutes were critical. The next day, he got a call from his doctor, who referred him to Dr. Joseph Stella, a renowned interventional cardiologist at Silver Cross Hospital.

“The heart scan measures how much calcium build-up is in your arteries,” Borchert said. “A score of 0 to 100 is minimal; 100 to 400 is concerning. Over 400 means you need to take immediate action. Mine was 2,517. And I had no symptoms whatsoever.”

While Borchert hoped he would only need a few stents, it was more dire than that. “One artery was 100 percent blocked, and the other two were in the 90s,” he said. “I was a ticking time bomb.”

Dr. Stella said it’s natural for people to be scared after hearing they need open heart surgery. “But I tell them this is the best day of your life, because we found this disease before it finds you. For 20 to 25 percent of the people, the first thing they feel with a cardiac event is the last thing they feel. They never make it to the hospital.”

“One thing that makes the cardiac program at Silver Cross unique is a very close, trusting and long-established relationship we have with our cardiovascular surgeons,” Dr. Stella said. “Without that synergy, no program can succeed nearly to the extent that we have.”

Dr. Stella added, “The cost of a calcium score is well worth it. For $49, it’s a no-brainer.”

To schedule a $49 Silver Cross Heart Scan, visit silvercross.org/heart-scan.

Silver Cross Hospital

1900 Silver Cross Blvd.

New Lenox, IL 60451

Ph: 815-300-1100

www.silvercross.org