What's New

West Pavilion
Home of the latest West Michigan Heart location!

Welcome to West Michigan Heart!

West Michigan Heart is the premier source for cardiovascular care in west Michigan. We are the largest group of cardiovascular disease specialists in west Michigan, providing the full range of specialty and subspecialty care for patients with heart and vascular diseases. We provide the comprehensive, focused, state of the art care that our patients expect and are committed to focusing on each of our patients as individuals.

This Website offers valuable information to improve your "heart health" including:

Interactive animations to visually walk you through nine conditions or procedures;
Informative content related to over 100 cardiovascular conditions and procedures;
Physician descriptions to find a doctor that is convenient for you; and
Preventative information to help you, your family and friends become more heart healthy

We hope to provide you which we hope helps you find information on cardiovascular conditions and treatment options. Though rich in its content, our site is not intended to replace the medical advice you receive from your primary care physicians and cardiologists. If you cannot find what you are looking for, and are interested in additional information about cardiovascular conditions, please feel free to contact our main office at (616) 885-5000.

Niacin Use and the AIM Trial

A trial of niacin therapy was recently stopped early. In the trial, Niacin therapy was studied in those who were already aggressively managed for lipids (LDL less than 70). The results did not favor the addition of Niacin therapy in this population, however, the results may not be applicable to many who are taking Niacin to achieve currently established lipid goals. It is a single trial and there have been other Niacin trials with positive benefits.

Currently, the West Michigan Heart Physicians do not recommend a change in therapy based on the preliminary information from this trial. More information will be needed in order for us to recommend a change to our current standards of practice.
Please continue your physician's plan and current medications until you have an opportunity to discuss with your physician at your next visit.

West Michigan Heart announced the planned opening of a new permanent office in the Spectrum West Pavilion, located at 6105 Wilson Avenue SW, directly off the M-6 interstate. The office is scheduled to begin seeing patients on December 1, 2009.

“We couldn't be more excited about opening up our services to the west side of Grand Rapids and the surrounding areas,” said Suzette Jaskie, Chief Executive Officer. “This convenient location will allow our patients easy access to the premier source for cardiovascular care in West Michigan.”

The new office will offer the exceptionally comprehensive diagnostic and treatment services that West Michigan Heart is known for, along with offerings that are unique to the area.
The Southwest location will initially be staffed by the following providers, including:

• Dennis C. Besley, MD., Consultative Cardiologist
• Helayne L. Sherman, M.D., PH.D., F.A.C.C., Consultative Cardiologist and Spectrum Health Women's Healthy Heart Director
• J. Stewart Collins, M.D., F.A.C.C., Coronary and Peripheral Vascular Interventionalist
• Darryl A. Elmouchi, M.D., Electrophysiology
• David B. Johnson, M.D., Integrative Cardiology and Wellness Programming
• Edith Paul, NP, Cardiac Nurse Practitioner

“While there are other groups of providers in west Michigan, none can offer the depth and breadth of our program,” said Jaskie. “We are the largest and only comprehensive group of cardiovascular disease specialists in West Michigan. West Michigan Heart provides a full range of subspecialty services including consultative and diagnostic cardiac, interventional cardiac, peripheral vascular consultative, diagnostic and interventional, advanced cardiac imaging, electrophysiology, advanced heart failure, women's heart health, adult congenital and cardiac wellness services.”

In the event that heart health is compromised and more invasive cardiovascular care is needed, West Michigan Heart is the gateway to the Fred and Lena Meijer Heart Center, located on the Spectrum Health campus. In the five years since the Meijer Heart Center has opened, it has become the region's destination for heart services, receiving numerous awards and recognitions. West Michigan Heart providers are present on-site at the Meijer Heart Center 24-hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

The new office is accepting new patients and setting appointments now. Learn more by calling (616) 885-5000.

“Medicare Electronic Medication and Safety Protection Act”
E-Prescribing Mandate
A Patient Educational Guide provided by West Michigan Heart

The US House and Senate have introduced the “Medicare Electronic Medication and Safety Protection Act” mandating the use of E-Prescribing for all medical practices serving Medicare patients by the year 2011. Over the next 24 months, medical practices are voluntarily adopting this practice in order to be in compliance with federal regulations.

The Act was introduced following the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendation that adoption of the practice of E-Prescribing is the key measure to reducing medication errors. The IOM estimated that 1.5 million medication errors occur annually resulting in over 7,000 patient deaths.

Beginning in January of 2009, West Michigan Heart will begin the transition to E-Prescribing. Our decision to be proactive in this matter is driven by our commitment to patient safety and focus on quality of care. Therefore starting with today’s visit, ALL your prescription needs will be refilled by ordering electronically from the pharmacy of your choice.

Today the medical assistant will inquire about what pharmacy you routinely use and make a note in your patient chart. Following your office visit, your doctor will be electronically submitting to your pharmacy for any new and/or refill prescriptions.

West Michigan Heart will be in contact with your pharmacy to verify that they are participating with either E-Prescribing or E-Faxing so as to electronically receive your refill orders. PLEASE NOTE, if your pharmacy does not yet participate with E-Prescribing OR if you use mail order refill service, you will be given or mailed your regular paper prescription and continue to follow your normal process until such time that your pharmacy provider has updated their technology to electronic prescribing.

We appreciate your assistance with this change and look forward to serving you with this improved process built on patient safety and convenience.

Introducing CardioSmart, the premier online resource for patients, offering accessible, authoritative information about cardiovascular disease, tests, and treatment option. Click the link on the right side of this page to access the site.

Welcome Dr. Chalfoun

West Michigan Heart is pleased to announce the arrival of Dr. Najib Chalfoun. Dr. Chalfoun has special interests in catheter ablations of complex arrhythmias, including ablation of atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia. He also has interests in implanting pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, and particularly biventricular defibrillators/pacemakers for cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Dr. Chalfoun received his medical degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Philadelphia. He completed his Internship and Residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He then completed his Cardiology Fellowship at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York and his Electrophysiology Fellowship at the University of Michigan. Dr. Chalfoun is board certified in Cardiovascular Diseases, Internal Medicine, and Nuclear Cardiology.

New Educational Animations

You've never learned like this before! Check out our exciting new procedure and condition animations. Find out more about a condition, such as a heart attack, or learn more about a procedure your doctor recommended.