Kirk Beattie lived with atrial fibrillation (Afib) for 20 years before he walked into the Heart & Vascular Center at Valley View’s Grand Junction clinic for the first time shortly after it opened last year.

Afib is the most common heart rhythm disorder in the United States. When left untreated, patients have a five times higher chance of having a stroke and are at greater risk of heart failure. “It’s very prevalent here in the mountains of Colorado because of our altitude,” explains electrophysiologist and interventional cardiologist, Dr. Frank Laws, of the Heart & Vascular Center at Valley View. “Most patients exhibit classic symptoms of heart palpitations, light headedness and shortness of breath.”

Beattie had the procedure to treat his Afib in April of 2017 and credits Dr. Frank Laws and his team for getting him back to his normal activities. “A lot happier…better both physically and mentally” says Beattie, a year after his procedure.

“In the past, most patients would have had to travel out of state for the types of procedures we can now offer in our Advanced Catheterization Laboratories in the Heart and & Vascular Center,” says Laws.

Beattie was recently at the Heart & Vascular Center’s Grand Junction clinic for his one-year post-surgery checkup and Grand Junction’s local KREX Channel 5 caught up with both him and Dr. Laws.