Honoring the Life & Career of Cardiovascular Surgeon Dr. William Charles Helton

Honoring the Life & Career of Cardiovascular Surgeon Dr. William Charles Helton

“It’s about the good we do when no one is watching.”

This quote was shared by one of Dr. William Charles Helton’s colleagues during a tribute to his career — highlighting his humility, wisdom, leadership and dedication to serving others. For nearly 50 years, Dr. Helton has worked tirelessly to establish, shape and uphold a legacy of excellence in cardiovascular surgery at WakeMed. In honor of his recent retirement, we reflect on Dr. Helton’s remarkable career and the impact his work has had on our community.

“Everybody is a member of the team and has a contribution to make. It’s not just the doctors; it’s all about the nurses, technologists and support staff who work with us. We can’t do anything without them,” shares Dr. Helton.

A Charge to Improve Access to High Quality Cardiovascular Surgery

Dr. ‘Charlie’ Helton joined the WakeMed team in 1977 after completing his surgical training in cardiovascular surgery. While WakeMed had performed its first heart surgery back in 1968, the program had been mostly discontinued by the mid-1970s. Dr. Helton was charged with re-establishing this important program in partnership with cardiologist Dr. Amarendra Reddy and WakeMed’s cardiac care teams.

“At that point, WakeMed was one of only a handful of hospitals with any kind of heart surgery program — and the model of a combined cardiology and cardiac surgery service in a community hospital was a new concept,” Dr. Helton explains. “The technology was new, expensive and, to some degree, unproven. The consensus at the time was that such an endeavor was best suited for university programs or large clinics, such as the Mayo or Cleveland Clinic.”

Fortunately, WakeMed had forward-thinking leaders and a Board of Directors who agreed that heart surgery represented a growing need. They hoped that providing this service would prevent patients from having to travel outside of Wake County to get top-notch cardiovascular care.

Dr. Helton worked collaboratively with WakeMed’s leadership, clinical staff and nursing teams to get the program up and running. 

“We performed 100 cases in our first year,” recalls Dr. Helton. “For the first 50-60 cases, I stayed in the hospital overnight to ensure our patients were safe and that all members of the team were comfortable with their roles.” 

Dr. Helton and his colleagues also played an integral role in the planning and opening of the WakeMed Heart Center in 1998. More than 25 years later, this state-of-the-art facility continues to serve patients from all over the region with the highest level of cardiovascular care.

A Legacy of Ongoing Support Through the WakeMed Foundation

A strong supporter of the WakeMed Foundation — WakeMed’s philanthropic partner — in 2012, Dr. Helton and his wife Barbara established the Helton Awardee and Scholars program. More than 230 WakeMed employees have received grants and scholarships for specialty training, certification or higher education degrees.

Dr. Helton established this fund to honor the many members of the health care team it takes to deliver exceptional patient care. Since its inception, this program has awarded more than $850,000 in funding to WakeMed employees.

“Dr. Helton is an incredible surgeon, collaborative leader and relentless pioneer in his field — and for more than 47 years, WakeMed and this community have benefited from his compassion and humble leadership,” says Donald R. Gintzig, WakeMed president & CEO. “The legacy of excellence in cardiovascular care he helped build here at WakeMed will outlive all of us. We are beyond grateful for the many treasures he has shared with us throughout his career.”

Happy Retirement, Dr. Helton!

This blog is adapted from Heart to Heart Magazine. Subscribe today.