Spokane Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention Center builds new home

Spokane-based Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention Center is building a new $1.5 million facility at 371 E. Fifth Ave. across from MultiCare Rockwood Clinic.

The center will be moving from its current location at 507 S. Washington St. to its new location in February when construction of the building is anticipated to be completed.

Prevention Center owner and founder Amy Doneen said the new building will have 3,600 square feet of medical office space.

It will also include a clinic and a training center where providers from across the U.S. can receive training in the BaleDoneen Method of cardiovascular care.

Dardan Enterprises Inc., of Post Falls, is the contractor on the project, which is expected to be completed in February, and Indigo Diggs LLC, of Spokane, designed it, Doneen said.

Doneen, who holds a doctorate in nursing practice, is the only full-time provider at the center.

She employs a part-time cardiologist, Dr. Pierre Leimgruber, who worked for 32 years as an interventional cardiologist affiliated with four-leading hospitals in Spokane.

“Right now, we are eight months booked out for new patients, which is unfortunate,” said Doneen, who plans to hire two more providers in the new clinic.

The BaleDoneen Method, which was pioneered in Spokane, is a way of using genetics and early disease and inflammation identification to identify people at risk for heart attack or stroke, Doneen said.

She and her partner, Dr. Bradley Bale, trademarked their method in 2001.

Bale was a family practitioner in Spokane when he and Doneen started working together 20 years ago.

He resides in Nashville, Tennessee, but continues to collaborate with Doneen.

They have written a new book, “Healthy Heart, Healthy Brain,” which will be released in February, coinciding with the completion of the new facility.

Doneen and Bale present 24 lectures a year across the U.S., teaching their method.

It’s a 17-hour medical education course certified by the American Academy of Family Practice, Doneen said.

“Spokane is going to be the hub,” Doneen said of the training center.

In addition to the two new providers, the center will have a multidisciplinary team including a nutritionist, a psychologist, and an exercise physiologist.

The Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention Center doesn’t contract with insurance companies.

An initial visit starts with a full record review, testing, labs, genetics tests, a physical exam, and a four- to eight-hour educational one-on-one session.

Doneen then provides a treatment plan and communicates with the patient’s health care team.

The initial cost is $3,000, and patients pay $250 a month thereafter.

“The perception is that if you are outside the current medical model, you are only treating the elite,” Doneen said. “I have never turned anyone away for financial reasons.”

The center has a scholarship program that assists patients with costs, or they can donate time to a community nonprofit in exchange for care.

Doneen said the center’s revenue is trending positively, which has allowed for its expansion.