WAIKOLOA, Hawai'i — Doctors should treat the heart and the brain as if they were one combined organ because they are both affected by many of the same risk factors, medical experts say.

North Hawaii Community Hospital on the Big Island is taking that approach by establishing its own Heart Brain Center and by linking up with the Cleveland Clinic, one of the world's leading heart clinics.

"We have a commitment to significantly change health for the better here in Hawai'i," said Dr. Ken Riff, executive director of the center. "We've got this tiny little hospital that's getting national attention. It's quite unique."

At a recent dinner forum at Mauna Lani Bay Hotel, Riff joined Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, and Big Island medical pioneer Dr. Earl Bakken.

Cardiovascular disease, which includes heart attack and stroke, is the leading cause of death in the United States, and Big Island figures are 23 percent higher than the state average, Riff said.

To fight back, Riff and his colleagues at the 40-bed hospital in Waimea say they are using a three-pronged attack — delivering medical excellence, getting the community involved in early diagnostic screening, and promoting awareness of risk factors.

"It's a holistic approach to care," Riff said. "The strategic affiliation with the Cleveland Clinic allows us to share knowledge as we have a common interest and approach."

Cosgrove said the partnership will benefit both institutions. In addition to making specialists available to North Hawaii Community Hospital doctors for advice and second opinions, the clinic will assist in enhancing emergency room services and other areas of care.

Hawai'i's values play a big part of this developing healthcare approach, Riff said.

"Hawaiians traditionally have treated the whole person," Riff said. "Healthcare needs to reflect those values."

Blending these aspects of healthcare delivery sparked the interest almost 30 years ago of Bakken, a medical inventor and Big Island resident.

His persistence paid off in the Earl and Doris Bakken Heart-Brain Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, the first of its kind.

Bakken said he has long recognized "no organ operates alone," and doctors must treat the whole body.

"It makes such a big difference," he said. "Times have changed and people are asking for something else in healthcare."

Typically, doctors have treated the disease or symptoms, sometimes shortchanging the human and environmental aspects of healthcare, Bakken said.

"We have to have the high-tech approach — that's about 20 percent," he said. "We also have to have the high-touch, the human touch, and we also have to be concerned about the environment. ...

"We made every effort to include Hawai'i traditions, like bamboo and ti plants in the rooms. Every room has a door to the outside. And it doesn't smell like a hospital."

Although Bakken typically shuns credit for the innovative approach to medicine, he said he is pleased it's finally taking root.

"It's slowly happening across the country," Bakken said. "It's interesting that a small hospital in Hawai'i is jumping ahead."

Thompson said that as discoveries in medicine and technology are made, healthcare delivery must keep the pace.

"We have huge opportunities for new ways to deliver medical care which open up whole new horizons," he said. "We need to do more of this — our best medical facilities reaching out to smaller, rural hospitals. When you improve the quality of care, you automatically improve the quality of life."