Doctor Thompsen is currently the Division Chief of Cardiology and President of Medical Staff at Johnson Memorial Hospital. He has many distinguished board certifications including Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease, Nuclear Cardiology, and Echocardiography/TEE. Doctor Thompsen has been a long time member of the American College of Cardiology FELLOW, American Heart Association, American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, and American Society of Echocardiography. Specialized interests of Doctor Thompsen include preventative cardiology, Ischemic Heart Disease in Women, CHF, Stress ECHO for non-ischemic indications (i.e. Diastolic CHF and Valvular Heart Disease)

Dr. Eric Kusher is a chiropractic physician specializing in evidence-based weight loss and metabolic optimization. He utilizes a holistic approach to help individuals achieve their weight loss goals and optimize their overall metabolic health. Dr. Kusher has practiced for over 40 years, and in addition to undergraduate and graduate degrees, he is also Post-Graduate certified in Functional Medicine, Acupuncture, and Applied Kinesiology.

Lalida Long, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner specializing in primary care. She received her Doctorate degree as an APRN from Ouinnipiac University and her nursing degree from Gateway Community College. Prior to her nursing programs, Lalida graduated with honors from Chiangmai University in Thailand with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.

Lalida has worked with TrinityHealth for over a year as a primary care provider / internal medicine. Prior to joining Trinity Health Of New England Medical Group, Lalida worked as a post-acute care nurse practitioner, where she assessed, diagnosed, treated and managed acute conditions and chronic illnesses for medically complex post-acute care patients, for both the adult and geriatric population. She served as a nurse for the Veterans Affairs Health Care system working with veterans in New Haven. In addition, Lalida worked at Gaylord Hospital caring for medically complex patients.

Lalida conducted a Cardiology Fellowship at the VA Hospital in Newington and was a Women’s Health and pediatric student resident. Lalida is happily welcoming new patients and self-referrals. She is also bilingual in Thai and English.

Shawn has foundations in prehospital emergency medicine, hospital based emergency medicine as well as hospitalist and critical care. He has been a clinician at the Center for the Healthy Heart since 2012. Besides providing the standard cardiovascular care, he has come to thrive in the field of preventive and integrative cardiology. He enjoys helping patients evaluate the root cause of their “dis-ease” process and facilitates the mitigation of chronic illness. He uses evidence based integrative and functional medicine to fully evaluate each patient and helps empower them to take charge of their health and wellness. With the use of advanced biomarkers and state of the art testing modalities he practices precision medicine and truly believes in the individualized treatment of each patient as a “one size fits all” plan seldomly works to combat chronic illness.

Kathy Beach, MS, NBC-HWC is a National Board-Certified Health Wellness Coach. She earned a Master’s degree from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC in Exercise Science and Cardiac Rehabilitation, as well as a Bachelor’s degree from SUNY Cortland in Physical Education and Athletic Training. Kathy became the first exercise physiologist at the Virginia Heart Institute at Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, VA in the Cardiac Therapy Program. She also worked as the head athletic trainer for Falls Church High School, Falls Church, VA. Later, she completed the health coach training program at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York. In 2011 she opened her private practice Integrative Health Management, LLC.

She has worked in the wellness field for 30 years with varied experience that includes working with Division 1 collegiate athletes, cardiac patients and cancer survivors. During this time, it became clear that everyone needs support and guidance to create optimal health and wellness in their lives. As a cancer survivor herself, Kathy is especially passionate about coaching other cancer survivors to empower them to successfully navigate the cancer journey and move forward into a life of optimal health and wellbeing.

Kathy supports patients in reaching their health goals by creating a wellness plan that addresses all aspects of a healthy lifestyle. This includes eating a clean and nutrient dense diet, improving sleep and movement, managing stress and decreasing toxic exposures.

Tamara Gordon is our Practice Manager. She has been at The Center For The Healthy Heart for over 13 years and is an integral part of our team. Tamara manages all aspects of the operations of our practice, and is a certified paralegal and medical assistant. She has 20+ years experience as a medical insurance claim analyst as well. She enjoys reading and writing poetry, listening to jazz, traveling and spending time with family.