GREAT FALLS, Mont. — For patients across North Central Montana, getting world-class heart care used to mean a long drive to a bigger city. The team at Great Falls Hospital's Heart and Vascular Center is changing that — and now the people of Montana have taken notice.
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Retired Air Force Major Robert Hudick has lived in Great Falls since 1974. For him, the care he received at the Heart and Vascular Center was not just convenient. It was lifesaving.
A routine echocardiogram flagged severe aortic stenosis — a condition Hudick had no idea he had. What followed was an emergency open-heart surgery that stopped his heart entirely. He spent nine days in the ICU and is now completing cardiac rehab.
"I was a flatliner when my heart was stopped — I was dead. And it's amazing because after the surgery was complete, they started the heart back. They removed the tubes from the machine, and they started my heart back up again," Hudick said.
The experience left him with one clear takeaway about the team that cared for him.
"All them doctors, nurses, and technicians in the ICU unit were absolutely phenomenal," Hudick said.
That level of care is now being recognized statewide. Great Falls Hospital's Heart and Vascular Center has been voted the Best Heart Center in Montana by Distinctly Montana magazine — in a record-setting year that drew 134,749 nominations and votes. The public determines the award entirely through voting, with no judging panel and no ability to purchase placement.
Dr. Simon Maltais, service line director for the Heart and Vascular Center, says the recognition reflects years of intentional work.
"That's a reflection of almost two years of hard work by our team — the administrative team as well as our physicians — to really refocus on heart disease and try to bring innovations and the greatest patient care possible," Maltais said.
The Heart and Vascular Center now offers less invasive heart surgery, robotically assisted procedures, and the Ross procedure — advancements that are drawing patients to Great Falls who once had no choice but to travel to Billings or Bozeman for complex cardiac care.
Great Falls Hospital is located at 3010 15th Ave. South. For more information, CLICK HERE.
