Pauley Society Has a Big Heart for Cardio Care

By Nicole van Esselstyn

A young Hem Bhardwaj was driving through Richmond with her parents. 

Her father, a native of India, pointed to the VCU building along the highway and said, “One day, Hem, you’ll work there.”

In 2011, Hem Bhardwaj, M.D., completed her fellowship on the MCV Campus and stayed — joining the VCU Health Pauley Heart Center as a cardiologist and associate professor.

***

Eleven years later, Philadelphia native Marie Knuettel attended an MCV Foundation Discovery Series event in Williamsburg, Va., where she and her husband, Frank Knuettel, had retired. The foundation established the series to raise awareness about the medical care, research and education happening at VCU Health.

Impressed with what they learned, the Knuettels stopped traveling to New York for medical care and opted to head west to Richmond and the Pauley Heart Center.

This is where the story of these two women — one from India, the other from the northeast — converge. But not as physician-patient.

Instead, the Knuettels became partners in health care with Dr. Bhardwaj through the Pauley Society.

A Shared Cause

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death globally, and even with their renowned efforts — including recognition from U.S. News & World Report in 2023 as the top heart hospital in Virginia — more can always be done. That’s where the Pauley Society and its more than 140 partners come in.

Established in 2020 by the Pauley Advisory Board, the Pauley Society unites annual donors of $1,000 or more who want to help Pauley improve cardiovascular care for all.

“Our entire team is grateful to everyone who has joined the Pauley Society, helping to create a reliable base of support to ensure our priority programs, research and education continue,” said W. Gregory Hundley, M.D., Pauley director and the George W. Vetrovec Chair of the Division of Cardiology. “In three short years, the society’s efforts have already touched every part of our mission as an academic medical center.”

The Knuettels and other like-minded donors come together to make an impact through the Pauley Society, which has recently helped expand access to care with the purchase of portable echocardiogram devices.

“It’s encouraging to know that people are interested in what we’re doing and want to help,” said Dr. Bhardwaj, who holds the James C. Roberts Professorship in Cardiology. “Through philanthropy, we can offer more advancements in care. Our friends in the Pauley Society are our partners in health care and are improving the health of our communities alongside us.

Delivering Targeted Solutions

An echocardiogram is an ultrasound of the heart, and many hospital patients require heart imaging during their stay, even if they have not been admitted for a heart condition. Due to the volume of echocardiograms, VCU Health physicians were interested in securing portable, hand-held echos — a new compact device that is easily used at the bedside and provides real-time readings on a patient’s heart structure and function.

“Portable echos are leading-edge technology in what we can do to diagnose cardiovascular disease,” Dr. Bhardwaj said. “Thanks to the Pauley Society, we could purchase the equipment more quickly and make it available for use in the hospital.”

The Pauley Society also helped outfit a new clinic in Williamsburg in 2021. Through its generous donors, the Pauley Society provided more than $200,000 in cardiac equipment such as echocardiograms and comprehensive stress testing to expand diagnostic testing this year.

What’s more, the society has helped launch a youth program aimed at stopping a common cardiovascular condition before it starts — hypertension. Led by cardiologist Sangeeta Shah, M.D., TeachBP visits local elementary schools and introduces students to monitoring blood pressure and educating their families about heart health.  

At the Pauley Society, all giving is unrestricted, meaning funds can be used for any pressing need. This includes supplying grants for early-stage research to Pauley scientists who must first show results before applying for larger, external funding.

Noninvasive cardiologist Cory R. Trankle, M.D., received a Pauley pilot grant to study how the heart’s left atrium responds during exercise, both before and after patients undergo catheter ablation to help treat atrial fibrillation. After his initial research, Dr. Trankle attracted funding from the NIH to expand this work.

“All the care I’ve had at Pauley has been wonderful,” said Marie Knuettel. “It’s a very special place with very special people. I am overwhelmed by the knowledge of the physicians. We want to support them as much as we can. Even though we live in Williamsburg, I think VCU is the only place to go. It’s what we tell our neighbors and friends. We want them to have the best.”

If you are interested in joining the Pauley Society, please visit the Pauley giving page or contact Sarah Neely at 804-628-8908 or sarah.neely@vcuhealth.org.