Archie McDonald, a well-known historian and author at Stephen F. Austin University, remembers the fateful day of August 7, 2002, which began with a heart stress test at Nacogdoches Medical Center (NMC). 

“It started when I told my regular doc of a shortness of breath,” Archie recalls. “He did a stress test in the hospital and I flunked in about five minutes. The next day we spent in cauterization discovery, where my cardiologist showed me my blockages. I never went home.”

Archie was informed he needed heart surgery. The doctors offered to make arrangements for him to have surgery in Houston, but Archie trusted his internist, who assured him the surgery could be performed with excellence at NMC.

He recovered for three days at NMC, including time in ICU, and underwent post-surgical rehabilitation. Over nine years later, Archie looks back with gratitude and praises his experience at NMC.

“Medical care from my team of physicians was successful – I’m beginning my 10th year of recovery,” he says. “I appreciated mostly their competence, but after that, the personal attention from everyone in the hospital and all the doctors involved. I never lost confidence in any of them.”

"The Nurses were wonderful. I especially remember the operating nurse who, when I woke up, told me to realize that I had 'made it,' and the ICU nurse who sat with me all night. The surgery was in 2002, and I'm still kicking!"

The benefits have been priceless.

“I have lived to spend another decade and counting with my wife Judy, of nearly 54 years now – instead of only 44 – along with our son Christopher, and have been able to see my granddaughter graduate from high school and enter college.”

“My experience at NMC was entirely positive: great patient care, medical expertise, and the competency and courtesy of the staff.”