Alan F. Helmbold DO

About

I specialize in electrophysiology, which is a subspecialty of cardiology which deals with arrhythmias, electrical abnormalities of the heart. One of my functions, if someone asked me what I do, I often say I’m an electrician of the heart. I put in pacemakers and defibrillators and take them out if they need to be removed. We do ablations for patients with arrhythmias of the heart — any arrhythmias: supraventricular tachycardias, afib, atrial flutter, ventricular tachycardia — we do the full spectrum.

How would your friends or spouse describe you?

I’m an honest person. I believe in always doing the right thing, no matter what, and treating everyone like they’re a family member. I take a lot of pride in that.

Why did you choose to work at Stormont Vail Health?

My wife and I were looking for a small town that also had a hospital that could provide all of the medical care that we needed to support what I do. And then we just fell in love with Topeka — loved the local schools, and fell in love with the hospital and all of the things that it could provide. And I feel like, from a cardiovascular standpoint, that Stormont provides better care than really any other hospital in the region.

Dr. Helmbold is part of the Watchman Device implantation team.