18    Cone Health Philanthropy
the battle was in the cath lab — opening arteries as fast as 
possible, changing survival odds hour by hour.
“We were very focused on acute care,” he says. “That’s where 
we had to be.”
Now, he sees a different kind of urgency — rooted in the belief 
that a community can live longer and healthier if the work 
starts years earlier. 
“We’re still taking great care of the patient in front of us. But 
we can also keep someone from becoming that patient in the 
first place,” he says.
That work stretches far beyond treating clogged arteries — 
into homes, workplaces and schools; into conversations about 
hypertension, sleep, pregnancy, stress and nutrition; into lives 
that might otherwise intersect with heart disease too late. It is 
Cone Health’s mission to provide value-based care (see “Care 
by design,” page 20).
Advancing the legacy 
With Stuckey’s retirement, Cone Health is preparing for a 
generational handoff — not from one pioneer to a successor, 
but from one chapter of progress to the next. The physicians 
now stepping forward arrive with ambition, ideas and a 
mandate to keep breaking new ground, supported by 
colleagues who once stood where they stand now.
A bold heart program transformed this region once before. 
Continued support — especially through the Dr. Thomas D. 
Stuckey Endowed Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine — will 
ensure the next generation has room to question, to explore 
and to lead, just as Stuckey and his colleagues did.
As Stuckey steps back, he does so knowing the program no 
longer depends on him — a sign of genuine success. The next 
wave of physicians is carrying the momentum forward, ready to 
shape a future built on everything he helped begin.
At the heart  
of a revolution
Heart & Vascular 
Innovation Milestones
Mid-1980s
Drs. Brodie and Weintraub begin 
performing primary angioplasty for heart 
attacks at Moses Cone Hospital — one of 
the first programs in the nation.
1986
Dr. Stuckey joins Cone Health, 
strengthening the interventional team, 
making angioplasty a national standard 
of care and expanding Cone Health’s 
participation in national trials.
1991
LeBauer Cardiovascular Research 
Foundation launches (later renamed the 
LeBauer–Brodie Center for Cardiovascular 
Research and Education), formalizing 
clinical research and education.
1990s–2000s
Cone Health participates in hundreds of 
stent, defibrillator and device trials, helping 
accelerate adoption of breakthrough 
treatments in community settings.
2010s
Heart & Vascular programs grow across 
the region, including Alamance Regional 
Medical Center.
2020
The Heart & Vascular Innovation Room 
opens, funded in part by a leadership gift 
from Dr. Stuckey, his wife Diana and other 
board members, creating a dedicated 
space to plan care for complex cases, 
evaluate new technologies and shape 
system-wide strategy.
2021
Cone Health invests in ECMO and becomes 
one of only a few U.S. hospitals able to 
offer this lifesaving support to the sickest 
heart and lung patients.
Dr. Hochrein, right, 
with Dr. Stuckey

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