Home Is Where The Heart Is
Prince George’s County Native Dr. Clarence Findley, A Leading Doctor At The Heart and Vascular Institute at UM Capital Region Medical Center, Wants Residents To Have Access To High-Quality Healthcare In Their Community
By Tiffany Young
Dr. Clarence Findley is the doctor in the house. As an interventional cardiologist who specializes in coronary and structural heart disease, he has spent his entire medical career helping patients with heart disease but his main focus has always been educating people on the importance of preventive care.
Dr. Findley attended Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt and was a student in the Science and Technology program. He earned the Science Department Award upon graduation. Focused on his school work and creating opportunities beyond his wildest dreams, it was the love of his family and the support of teachers and mentors that encouraged Findley to become a physician at a young age.
At the UM Capital Regional Medical Center in Largo, Findley serves as the Medical Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and Program Director of Structural Heart. “Preventing heart and vascular disease is extremely important to my life’s work and has become a passion of mine. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States and across the world,” Findley says.
In Maryland and Prince George’s County, heart disease is the leading cause of death. In 2020, 12,624 deaths due to heart disease were recorded in the state of Maryland. Prince George’s County has approximately 950,000 citizens. In 2018, 1,476 deaths due to heart disease were recorded in Prince George’s County. Currently, approximately 4.5-5.0% of the individuals in Maryland and Prince George’s County are living with heart disease. This condition is also a major issue in Prince George’s County where a large majority of its citizens (Black and Brown populations) are disproportionately affected.
“I want the community to understand the fundamentals of heart and vascular disease. Adopting healthy habits such as regular exercise (moderate intensity exercise 30 mins per day for five days a week) and adhering to healthy diets are ways to prevent this disease,” Findley explains.
At the Heart and Vascular Institute (HVI) at UM Capital Regional Medical Center, Dr. Findley is committed to add new technologies such as rotational atherectomy (shaving down calcium in the heart arteries) and the treatment of patients in shock with implantation of heart devices such as Impella (a short-term artificial heart pump that is placed in the heart from blood vessels in the legs and arms).
“In the past, we have had to send these patients to neighboring facilities for treatment. Our overall goal is to treat patients here in Prince George’s County. Over the next several years, we will also treat patients who present with structural heart issues that require medical attention, such as closing holes in hearts and repairing heart valves without opening the patient’s chest,” he said.
Findley grew up in Prince George’s County but left in 2001 to pursue medical training. He returned to the area in the fall of 2021. Since that time, he said there has been more residential development; the demographics of the county are changing. However, some of the main issues such as patients seeking care outside of the County still remain.
“There are clear health gaps in Prince George’s County that persist and residents here in the
county are in dire need of a facility that is equipped and staffed to offer high level care. We are witnessing a transformation at UM Capital Region Health that represents a pivot in the county towards offering its citizens “world class, top notch medical care” without having to travel to other jurisdictions, like DC, Annapolis, Northern Virginia or Baltimore, to access quality care.”
