by Tanner Lambson

In 1975, a young doctor from a small town in India set foot on American soil with a desire to serve and to make a difference.  

The early days were filled with determination to serve communities that truly needed care. It was this blend of faith and hard work that set the tone for a career defined by the lives it changed.  

“God has helped me to achieve what I can,” said George Eapen, M.D. “I am glad I could serve the people of Southern Virginia. It has been a great privilege.” 

This July, Eapen will retire after fifty years of providing cardiology care, with most of his career spent at VCU Health Pauley Health Center. Eapen initially connected to VCU Health while working at a private practice in Emporia in the 1990s.  

“We never turned anybody away,” Eapen recalled. “Doctors would come in the middle of the night to help those without insurance. VCU helped us in those days, because we were able to bring patients without insurance to VCU to do the procedures that they needed.” 

The love and respect you get from these patients are more dear to me than anything else in this life. 

George Eapen, M.D., former VCU Health Pauley Heart Center cardiologist

Through his referrals to VCU, Eapen got to know George Vetrovec, M.D., who was the director of VCU’s Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at the time. That relationship ultimately led Eapen to further advanced training in interventional cardiology.  

“I came to VCU and trained ‘on the job’ in both cardiac catheterization and angioplasty,” Eapen said. “I'm always thankful to VCU for this, and especially to Dr. Vetrovec and Dr. Ellenbogen.” 

He later became the director of echocardiography at the VCU Health Pauley Heart Center clinic in Colonial Heights, a clinical professor of cardiology at the VCU School of Medicine and a long-standing fellow of the American College of Cardiology. 

His retirement marks the close of one chapter — but not the end of his impact, which touches the communities he serves, the patients he treats and everyone at Pauley Heart Center. 

Uncommon compassion at the heart of care 

What stands out most about Eapen’s career in medicine is his genuine care for patients who are least likely to have access to medical care. Eapen traces his passion to a single moment in Petersburg in 1995. 

“I was traveling through the city and I stopped at a red light,” he recalled. “I looked over, and a man — a former patient — came running over to my car and said, ‘Dr. Eapen, this is Benjamin. Thank you.’”

The gratitude of this patient — who did not have health insurance at the time — fueled Eapen’s drive to help launch a free clinic in Petersburg, called Pathways, the very same year. The clinic provides free medical services to uninsured patients.  

“This moment changed my whole attitude about working with uninsured or economically challenged patients,” he said. “The love and respect you get from these patients are more dear to me than anything else in this life.” 

Only five years later, in 2000, Eapen was acknowledged for co-founding the clinic with the Unsung Hero Award via the Virginia Health Care Foundation from then-Governor of Virginia Tim Kaine. Eapen continued to volunteer with Pathways until 2022. 

For Eapen, the rewards of practicing medicine are not rooted in accolades or achievements—rather, the rewards are found in the act of connecting with patients and letting them know that their life matters.  

“There is a unique joy in the sacrifice of helping others — one you can’t truly understand until you experience it yourself,” he said. “All human beings are mortal, and in caring for them we learn the value of compassion.” 

Eapen has cared for and learned from patients all over the world. He’s volunteered for mission trips in Honduras and India. In these places, he says, you learn about hardships textbooks cannot teach. 

“You have to live with them, see them and see their difficulties and help them, and they will respond to you,” he explained. “That's a special feeling, because somebody is trusting you with their life, you do everything possible... your focus is to serve the people, to do what’s best for the patient.” 

George Eapen, M.D. (right), became close colleagues and friends with George Vetrovec, M.D. (right), when he first started referring patients to VCU Health. (Contributed photo)

With five decades in the field, Eapen has witnessed an evolution in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. However, he’s also witnessed a heartbreaking disparity in life expectancy between well-off and low-income communities.

“Even though we have all these advanced treatments, life expectancy in inner city areas is still really low,” he said.

While new technologies and treatments continually reshape cardiology, Eapen has always been a fervent advocate for prevention. He notes that education and preventive care can make all the difference.

“If you educate [the residents of] a more economically challenged area on cardiovascular disease, you can imagine we could save thousands of lives and accumulate millions or even trillions of dollars of wealth that has been lost,” he explained.  

Retiring, but with plans to keep serving 

Before coming to VCU, Eapen worked in several other hospitals and private practices.  

Reflecting on why he has chosen to stay with VCU for so long, Eapen notes, “Pauley Heart has a great advantage. All complex cases should come to Pauley because each form of cardiovascular disease has a specialist in it at Pauley. This is not something available in other community hospitals.”

Even as he retires, Eapen isn’t ready to step away completely. He says he believes service doesn’t end with retirement; rather, it transforms and continues in new ways.

Eapen plans to continue serving at Pathways and other free clinics in Central Virginia He’s even learned a bit of Spanish in order to better communicate with his patients.

“I'm a religious person,” he said. “God has given me more than I deserve. I feel blessed, and, even more, I feel challenged to do more for those people who I can serve.”

While he modestly describes himself as “just an ordinary guy who works hard to help people,” Eapen’s true achievements lie in the lives he has helped to save, and in the hearts he has enriched with kindness, dedication and an unrelenting desire to serve.

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