Patient Stories

To read all patient stories, click here. 

'Listen to Your Heart:' Patient Suffers Heart Attack, Succeeds with Cardiac Rehab

One day in May 2020, Jerry Streinz was outside cutting his grass when he knew something was wrong. The tingling in his fingers, chills and chest pain were signals that he was suffering a heart attack. He made his way to UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital's emergency room, where he was quickly checked in and taken to the Cath Lab for a balloon angioplasty. Read Jerry's story.

From Avid Runner to Heart Attack Survivor

Bill Dodd is an active runner, who broke his wrist last fall at a run in Tennessee. Choosing to seek care closer to home, Bill chose UnityPoint Health - Finley Hospital as his place for wrist surgery, but during his time in the recovery room, the unexpected happened. To read more of Bill's story, click here.

'They Were There for Everything'

After suffering a heart attack and a stroke, Rick Hirsch was thankful for the life-saving measures and teamwork staff at Finley Hospital put forth to get him back on the road to recovery. Read Rick's story.

When Minutes Count 

Dennis Schumacher didn't realize he was having a heart attack. The 65-year-old Bellevue man recalls, "My chest hurt and I had pain in my left arm, but I've had that before and the pain always goes away. This time it didn't. That's when my wife pushed me into going to the hospital." Read Dennis' story.

Beyond His Expectations: Dubuque Businessman Experiences Finley Heart Care Firsthand

"You've gotta be kidding me." Charlie Skemp didn't think it was a heart attack. After all, heart attacks happen to other people, not to a healthy 56-year-old who eats right and works out regularly. Still, Skemp admits something didn't seem quite right that morning in March 2015. Click here to read Charlie's story. 

Bringing Life Saving Heart Care to Dubuque

"I just couldn't get any air," says Clarence Salow, 84, of Earville, Iowa. The Korean War veteran and retired John Deere employee shifts his gaze to the picture window behind his wife as he recalls that Sunday this past February.  "That was the real battle; just trying to breathe." Read Clarence's story. 

Heart Rhythm Clinic Offers Local, Coordinated Heart  Care

After a successful bypass surgery in 1980, the Earlville resident and Korean War veteran went back to work and continued everyday life as a husband and father; that is until February of 2015. Click here to read more. 

When It Comes to Patient Safety and Comfort, Innovation Is Not Only Radical - It's Radial

At the Finley Hospital Cardiac Catheterization Lab a new procedure is quietly changing the way surgeons treat the cardiac patients. For heart-catheterization procedures in the United States, cardiologists traditionally access the heart at the groin.  Read more here. 

Speaking From Experience

Jim Wilhelm from Dyersville, Iowa,would tell you that his two heart catheterizations were as different as night and day. To learn why, click here.