Cardiac doctor given key to the city

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on December 11, 2024.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Lethbridge is home to Dr. Sayeh Zielke, Cardiac Sciences Physician Lead for Alberta Health Services South Zone who came to Lethbridge in 2013.
In a special presentation on Tuesday afternoon in council chambers, the doctor was awarded the Key to the City by mayor Blaine Hyggen for “her tireless work to improve and advance cardiac care in southern Alberta.”
The key is the municipal government’s highest honour and is given to recognize the civic contribution of recipients. It was last presented on May 9, 2017 to Lethbridge Hurricanes captain Tyler Wong for his exemplary community service.
The award came after a presentation by councillor Belinda Crowson about the 100 year history of women being elected to office in Lethbridge.
“Dr. Zielke’s accomplishments demonstrate the amazing qualities we look to recognize when awarding the Key to the City,” said Hyggen in a statement. “Not only is she extremely knowledgeable in the field of cardiac care, but she is also an advocate for the needs of her patients and fiercely committed to promoting cardiac wellness in an effort to keep our community strong and healthy.”
Dr. Zielke established Chinook Cardiology in 2013 where she is the medical director. She is also the Medical Director of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program which is part of the Alberta Healthy Living Program of Alberta Health Services.
She has worked tirelessly to advance the creation of a catheterization lab at Chinook Regional Hospital.
Cardiac catheterization is used to diagnose and treat various heart issues. Lethbridge residents presently must travel to Calgary for the procedure.
Zielke told the audience at council chamber, she was born in Iran and her parents left their home country to give their children a better life. That meant getting opportunities such as access to education to their two daughters. Zielke also has a brother
The family first lived in France as refugees where they learned the language before moving to Thunder Bay, Ontario in October of 1991 where they realized nobody spoke French.
The longest place she has ever lived, Zielke told mayor Blaine Hyggen and his council, is Lethbridge, a city she tells everyone who asks is where she’s from.
“When my husband and I kind of talked quite a bit where we were going to land after finishing school and training” he was supportive of moving to Lethbridge.
“It is truly home. When I first came here, I wasn’t sure if I made the right decision but the community just adopted us. They truly allowed me to work at my calling and as a result, it’s been a beautiful place to live, it is home and I’m truly committed to the community” and to serve Lethbridge and its residents.
“So this key means a lot. I’m truly humbled and I don’t feel deserving of it. It’s a privilege and truly honour,” Zielke said.
Hyggen told Zielke her work is saving lives in the community, saying soon there will be eight and possibly nine cardiologists in the city and he thanked she and her team.
“It’s been truly a privilege to work with you,” she told Hyggen, of their travels to advocate for cardiac services in Lethbridge.
“Thank you for your support, thank you for making this a priority and a pillar of what you have been working for, advocating for. It would not have happened without your support,” she told the mayor.
The doctor said she was humbled by the presence of her colleagues in the chamber.
Zielke said calling Lethbridge home “is a really big deal” because she has lived in many places in her lifetime and she and her family haven’t really had a home.
Zielke’s parents surprised her by being in chambers Tuesday.
Her parents thought it was important for her daughters to live out their callings and be the best they could be, the doctor said.
“They gave up the life that they knew, they gave up the comfort, the resources, their family and left Iran to be able to provide us with opportunities,” she said.
Zielke served as vice-chair and board member of Alberta Health Services from 2020-2022 which included roles as chair of the Quality and Safety Committee and vice-chair of the Human Resources Committee.
She also holds faculty appointments as Clinical Lecturer at the University of Calgary (Department of Cardiac Sciences, Cummings School of Medicine) and at the University of Lethbridge as Adjunct Associate Professor (Department of Neuroscience).
While heart disease is the second leading cause of death in Canada, it’s the leading cause in southern Alberta with death from all cardiac issues being 26.6 per cent higher here than in the rest of the province. There is also a 15.5 per cent higher risk factor of heart attack in southern Alberta compared to the rest of the province.
In addition, the death rate in southern Alberta for diseases of the circulatory system is 35.2 per cent.
“We often kind of forget how important heart health is. Very sadly, cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 reason for death in southern Alberta and it causes 35 per cent of the deaths,” said Zielke in a recent phone interview.
“It’s very frustrating,” the doctor added.
“We have a higher risk compared to the rest of the province. . . .and traditionally, we haven’t had access to the same services as the rest of the province,” the doctor added.
When Zielke came to Lethbridge, she was the first cardiologist in the South Zone and now there are a total of six “but we are still under-serviced” with patients who still have to travel to seek care in the Calgary zone “and they don’t have access to all of the diagnostic and interventional services we would have access to in Calgary or Edmonton.”
About 1,300 local patients have to travel to Calgary to get interventional cardiology support and treatment,” said Zielke.
“It’s been my whole mission – this is the hill I’m trying to die on – to try to improve the care for our community by providing access to interventional cardiology, more resources, hiring more cardiologists and basically developing the best, most excellent cardiac services” for the entire South Zone, not just Lethbridge, said the doctor in the interview.
The new cardiac catheterization lab in Lethbridge is “life and death important,” she said.
“It will save lives, it will provide access to care closer to home. It’s absolutely needed, it’s absolutely critical,” she told the Herald.

3
-2