CINCINNATI (December 15, 2025) –Eric Townsend of Harrison, Ohio, couldn’t walk more than a few hundred yards without stopping to rest. He couldn’t sleep more than two or three hours at a time. Even basic tasks like doing laundry, vacuuming, or helping carry groceries were out of reach.
“I didn’t have any stamina,” said Townsend. “I felt weak all the time. I was too tired to do much of anything.”
That all changed after receiving Barostim, a breakthrough treatment for patients with heart failure who continue to experience symptoms despite being on optimal medical therapy. The device, now available at The Christ Hospital, uses electrical impulses to help rebalance the nervous system and improve how the heart functions.
Before Barostim, daily life was a cycle of rest and exhaustion. Townsend spent much of his day sitting or napping. His wife managed most household chores and the physical demands of caring for their one-year-old granddaughter, who they watch four days a week. He couldn’t take their dog for walks, carry the 35-pound deer feeder bags for his backyard, or attend sporting events because of the walking involved.
“Now I can walk 20 to 30 minutes, several times a day,” said Townsend. “I can sleep five or six hours a night, which I haven’t done in years. I even cut up a tree in the backyard the other week. There’s no way I could’ve done that before.”
He’s also back to playing with his granddaughter — lifting, carrying, and even tossing her into the air. He walks the dog at the park again. He helps with errands and household tasks.
“I feel like I’m finally getting my life back.”
The improvements are backed by data: before receiving Barostim, his Medtronic device showed less than 2 hours of daily activity. Post-implant, that number has jumped to 7.4 hours. His daily step count has more than tripled, from around 1,480 steps to over 4,600.
“We’re proud to be one of the few centers in the region offering Barostim,” said Dr. Garcia, Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiologist at The Christ Hospital. “This therapy is giving our patients a chance to start living again instead of simply being alive.”
Barostim represents an exciting new option for patients with systolic heart failure who remain symptomatic despite guideline-directed therapy. For more information and video animation on how the Barostim device works, click here.
About The Christ Hospital Health Network
The Christ Hospital Health Network consists of an acute care hospital located in Mt. Auburn, a remote hospital location in Liberty Township, five ambulatory outpatient centers and dozens of medical offices throughout the region. For more than 135 years, The Christ Hospital has provided compassionate care to those it serves. Made up of more than 1,300 physicians and 7,200 team members, our mission is to improve the health of our community by providing exceptional outcomes in an affordable way. The Network was recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the #1 hospital in the Cincinnati Region and named to Newsweek’s World’s Best Hospitals list in 2025.