After 30 years on the Los Robles Hospital campus, we moved the clinical practice office to a beautiful NEW building on the Thousand Oaks Surgical Hospital campus.  Better parking!  We will continue with our cardiovascular disease management programs, preventive cardiology, non-invasive assessment tools and, of course, our clinical research programs looking for new and innovative ways to manage cardiovascular disease.  For directions and flyer, click here!.  As noted below, the clinical research offices are now being conducted at the Westlake research facility.

The guiding principle of the Ventura Heart Institute is that the best treatment of cardiovascular disease is its prevention. The emphasis has always been on wellness and prevention with the ideal care being proactive, rather than reactive, assessment and intervention.  The Ventura Heart Institute's mission is to provide patients with evidence-based strategies for the optimal and cost effective assessment and management of cardiovascular risks.

We also believe that clinical research improves clinical care so we have conducted over 130 clinical trials in new and novel cardiovascular therapies, with the goal of contributing to the improved care of patients everywhere.  Recently, we have relocated our clinical research offices to a dedicated site at Westlake Medical Research (www.wmresearch.com) to expand our mutual capabilities in clinical trials and bring these to our communities.  Dr. Loh is the Principal Investigator for cardiovascular trials.  At this ADA compliant site, we have exam rooms, an infusion-room, a lab with both refridgeration and a -80 degree freezer, dedicated clinical research monitor work space with wireless internet and copier-scanner-fax.  The investigational productstorage room has its own heating and cooling sysems with 24 hour monitoring of the drug refridegerator and -20 degree freezer.  The research facility is protected by alarm and motion detectors with the drug room having an additional two alarm systems and the requirement for biometric scanning for entry.  The research site is staffed by a research director, administator, four clinical research coordinators, three assistant research coordinators, a lab technician, two recruiters, one regulatory expert and the site also supports space for sub-investigators.

We believe that lifestyle modifications with proper nutrition, weight management, exercise and judicious use of appropriate medications used to expert-guided standards provide patients the greatest probability of a good outcome.  We provide cardiovascular screening for risk assessment, education programs and clinical research protocols in our quest to provide the most up-to-date options for our patients.  The American Heart Association updated its guidelines for prevention of heart disease in women.  You can download a copy of the complete recommendations by clicking here or clicking on the summary in Dr. Loh's Second Opinion column on the subject. You may access Dr. Loh's prior Second Opinion newspaper columns and editorials by clicking on the link at the top of this page entitled "Second Opinion Columns".  You may contact Dr. Loh by e-mail by clicking here.

Dr. Loh has been doing presentations on "Health Care Reform" to professional and public audiences since 1992.  The recent passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act represents a significant step towards America's achieving a just and fair healthcare system to serve its citizens.  To see his Op-Ed articles on this subject, please go to the "Second Opinion Columns" link at the top of this page and select the articles from March 2010, November 2010 and January 2011.

In addition, he was invited to lecture on "Harnessing Health Care Information Technology at the Point-of-Care to Improve Quality and Outcome" at the University of California - Berkeley, co-sponsored by the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) at www.citris-uc.org, and the School of Public Health.  His poster on healthcare information technology was also accepted for presentation at Harvard's Inaugural America China Health Summit in Boston in September 2011.

We will continue to offer free public education programs themed "The Prevention of Heart Disease" in the future as we have for many years.  Topics will include the cardiovascular risk factors such as blood fat abnormalities, high blood pressure, irregular heart beats,diabetes and their lifestyle and drug management. The responses to these prior Symposia have been positive with accolades to the faculties and content.  We will continue to strive to provide up-to-date information on heart and vascular disease to the public and our colleagues.