She started her business for wake-up calls on heart health

The Huntington-based business that Kerri Winans-Kaley started four years ago gives people information they don't always want to hear, but have to know.

Winans-Kaley is founder and chief executive of CardiacScan Imaging Services, a company that dispatches equipment and technicians to businesses and organizations. The techs conduct ultrasound cardiac scans, which evaluate heart function and potential malfunctions.

"We are a bit of a wake-up call," said Winans-Kaley. "I always use the term 'A picture is worth a thousand words.' We're scaring [some people] into being a little more conscientious about their health."

Winans-Kaley, 45, was in medical sales for the giant Johnson & Johnson and other companies for more than a decade, she said, before she "got tired of working for corporate America."

She had no cash to start a business but wanted to be in the booming health care industry. She got a $100,000 low-interest loan from the Community Development Corp. of Long Island, of which $35,000 came from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

"Being a small business owner is really tough," said CDC president Marianne Garvin. "There's no 9-to-5. When there's a start-up involved, you look for experience." Winans-Kaley had that, Garvin said.

Winans-Kaley hired Lisa G. Schneider, a nurse, who is now the company's vice president of business development. The company also has four technicians who work on a per-diem basis.

"We had similar goals," Schneider said.

Winans-Kaley stresses CardiacScan is not in the business of making diagnoses. Those found to have heart problems are told to see a doctor. CardiacScan provides echocardiograms, an exam to test the carotid artery, another to look for layers of plaque between the inner two layers of the carotid, and an ankle-brachial index, which measures blood pressure taken at the arms and ankle. The package of tests costs $300; companies and organizations pay a portion, and so does the person being tested. Sales last year were about $600,000, Winans-Kaley said.

James McDermott, a board member of the Nassau Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, said the organization began using CardiacScan about two years ago. "With the tours we work and the crappy food we eat and the stress, we thought it was a good idea to get into this," McDermott said. Has it been beneficial? "Things have shown up that people didn't know about," he said.