Julie Soske: Following Her Heart to Where Health Care Is Best

Although she’d easily walked to her mailbox hundreds of times, one day, Julie Soske began feeling out of breath. Due to her health history, she jumped into action and scheduled a visit with her primary care doctor.

Suspecting her heart was the issue, Julie’s doctor referred her to a cardiologist who ran multiple tests including an angiogram at Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center.

Results revealed not one but two concerns—a blocked coronary artery and an aortic aneurysm. She was referred to cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr. Rajeev Kathuria, who performed open heart surgery at Banner Boswell Medical Center. She enthusiastically credits him for saving her life.

“I love my doctors and trust them for their thoroughness, honesty and integrity,” she says. Julie is now feeling so good she’s enjoying get-togethers with friends and pursuing her hobbies as a portrait artist and photographer.

In gratitude, she is giving back with donations to Sun Health Foundation in support of the greatest health needs at these community hospitals to help ensure the continuation of superior care. Her generosity is being commemorated with beautiful leaves adorning the hospitals’ Donor Recognition Walls—one leaf honoring her friend and the other honoring Dr. Kathuria. Although she’d easily walked to her mailbox hundreds of times, one day, Julie Soske began feeling out of breath. Due to her health history, she jumped into action and scheduled a visit with her primary care doctor.

Julie says her greatest pleasure isn’t receiving, it’s giving.

“A common misconception is that a person on the receiving end of a gift is happiest, but to me the giver is the one elated.”

Julie’s generous spirit reflects the spirit of a 55-year tradition that is the hallmark of the West Valley—a spirit that can be summed up in three words: Community. Unity. Generosity.

Contact a Sun Health Foundation staff member at (623) 471-8500 or foundation@sunhealth.org today to learn how you—like Julie—can ensure Sun Health continues to address our community’s greatest health needs for years to come.