Caregiver Stories

Katiana Jean Juste, Certified Medical Assistant (CMA)

Timothy Howald, Director Cardiopulmonary – Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital

Timothy Howald is the cardiopulmonary director at Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital. He started as a respiratory therapist when it was Indian River Memorial Hospital almost 38 years ago. Timothy moved to Florida from Michigan right out of respiratory therapy school and never moved back.

From his start as a respiratory therapist, Timothy’s career progressed steadily within the department to educator, then clinical specialist, supervisor, manager and finally, director. There was a short period of time when Timothy worked for another company, but he returned to the hospital seven months later.

Timothy manages several departments, including respiratory therapy, cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, electrophysiology and the sleep disorder center. Because he oversees all the day-to-day operations, he doesn’t get to spend as much time on the clinical side as he used to.

During his nearly four-decade tenure, Timothy has seen a great deal of change. “They've made a lot of additions to the hospital,” he continues, “It really expanded from a hospital to a medical center.” He speaks fondly of Cleveland Clinic and the support and resources they have provided, especially during COVID. The hospital was acquired in 2019 and it was mid-transition when the pandemic blindsided the world.

COVID was the ultimate test for Timothy’s department. At its peak, the respiratory staff was managing 30 ventilators at once. He describes the experience as “extreme,” but “When it really comes down to it, we're going jump in and do what it takes,” he says. Incredibly, not one respiratory employee got COVID during that first wave, even though they did all the patient intubations.

He is very proud of his department and what they have been able to do over the years, even before COVID. In 2011, the department was named “Best Respiratory Therapy Department in the Nation” by Advanced Magazine. Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital’s Respiratory department was the first to implement the respiratory intubation program, a process now being adopted across Cleveland Clinic hospitals in the Florida region. Additionally, the hospital has long used Respiratory Driven Protocols, allowing them to practice at the top of their license; it is something the Cleveland Clinic system started implementing over the last few years.

Timothy likes to split his free time between gardening, being on the beach, taking road trips and sometimes bungee jumping or a similar thrill-seeking activity.
 

Susan Dipietro, Regional Outpatient Coding Supervisor

Susan Dipietro says she used to see jobs as just that - a job. That is, until she had her first experience working with children with special needs. From then on, she knew her passion was in healthcare.

Griffin Wert, Neuroscience Office Coordinator – Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital Neurosciences

Griffin Wert is a neuroscience office coordinator in the Neurosciences Department at Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital. Griffin started in 2014 when it was Indian River Memorial Hospital as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) in the post anesthesia care unit (PACU). He transitioned to surgical patient care technician (PCT) then electroencephalogram (EEG) technologist before taking on his current role.

Cleveland Clinic’s patients in Florida benefit daily from Griffin’s clinical background. Patients call Griffin to schedule prerequisite diagnostic tests like MRI and CAT scans prior to their surgery. He says patients are sometimes scared or nervous and don’t understand what the procedure will entail. Thankfully, “I used to do this for a living and I walk them through the whole process,” Griffin says. Putting patient’s minds at ease is a point of pride for Griffin. He attributes his disposition to his parents and the memory of his grandmother, who died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.