About the Series

“The main reason for this show is to share clear, concise information about
health and wellness. On ‘Health Matters,’ we cut through all the hype and
complicated medical terms and give you the straight talk.”
— Larry Santora, M.D.

These are the type of discussions each of us would like to have with a doctor one on one, where any question may be asked, and every answer is understandable.

We also showcase patients and their families who generously share personal stories about their conditions and treatments.

Every segment of the show presents information you can use right now to evaluate – and perhaps improve – your own health and wellness.

Built on a tradition of education and service to our community, “Health Matters with Dr. Larry Santora” is produced by Chapman University and taped in the university’s Marion Knott Studios. The show’s crew is made up of both professionals and students working side by side, providing students valuable hands-on production experience.

Tune in every Wednesday and Sunday

This series airs on Huntington Beach-based KOCE-TV each Wednesday and on the OC Channel on Sundays and is then re-broadcast repeatedly throughout the following weeks on that channel.

View the KOCE-TV cable list for the channel in your area.

The OC Channel is on channel 50.2 on digital television, channel 810 on Cox Communications Cable, channel 235 on Time Warner and channel 470 on Verizon Fios.

Meet Your Hosts

Larry Santora, M.D., host

A practicing, board-certified cardiologist for more than 30 years, Larry Santora, M.D., continues to put considerable time into the one-on-one consultations he has with each of his patients. "Talking with patients and really listening to them helps both of us – doctor and patient – examine the illness more thoughtfully and thoroughly," says Dr. Santora. "It also allows me to explain in clear, understandable language what the diagnosis is and how the treatment may enable patients to actively participate in their medical care.

"That’s also the main reason for this show – to share clear and concise information about health and wellness. There is so much information out there, and even doctors sometimes have a hard time keeping up with it. On 'Health Matters,' we cut through all the hype and complicated medical terms and give you the straight talk."

Dr. Santora is the medical director of The Orange County Heart Institute and director of cardiac CT at the OC Vital Imaging Center – both in Orange County, California.

Dr. Santora specializes in interventional cardiology (balloon angioplasty and stenting of coronary arteries) as well as preventive cardiology. He treats patients at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, California.

Dr. Santora co-authored The OC Cure for Heart Disease with NFL star Dick Butkus and Steven A. Armentrout, M.D. He also co-authored Women and Heart Disease with Shalizeh Shokooh, M.D., and Kelly Tucker, M.D. Dr. Santora has also published the only scientific paper suggesting a link between anabolic steroids and heart disease.

The Orange County Heart Institute and Research Center
The Orange County Heart Institute and Research Center is a single medical group whose physicians are recognized cardiac leaders in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, education and rehabilitation. The team's mission is to provide the highest quality, most technologically advanced cardiac care in a personal and cost-effective manner.

The Orange County Heart Institute and Research Center
Saint Joseph Medical Plaza
1140 West La Veta Ave., Suite 640
Orange, CA 92868
Phone: 714-564-3300
Fax: 714-564-3318
www.ocheart.org

OC Vital Imaging Center
OC Vital Imaging is one of the most advanced cardiac CT imaging centers in the United States. It is the only CT cardiac center with an EBCT scanner and a 64-slice CT/PET scanner under one roof. This means the center is able to provide the very best CT scanner for your particular health needs. Most CT centers have only one type of CT scanner, which they use for all types of imaging. This presents a compromise in radiation exposure and diagnostic accuracy. OC Vital Imaging has the best scanner for wellness and screening tests, and the best scanner for diagnostic tests. No compromise. Larry Santora, M.D., is medical director of Cardiac CT, and Maged Azer, M.D., FACC, is director or Nuclear Cardiology and Cardiac P.E.T. Imaging for OC Vital Imaging and The Orange County Heart Institute.

OC Vital Imaging Center
1120 W. La Veta Ave., Suite 150
Orange, CA 92868
Phone: 714-558-2040
Fax: 714-558-2047 
www.ocvitalimaging.com  

Heidi Cortese, host

With a focus on the health and wellness of people in the prime of their lives – including the baby boomer generation and beyond – Heidi Cortese is CEO and chairman of RCC, Inc., the developer of Leisure World Active Adult Communities, and she has worked with and supported a number of programs and institutions that promote a healthy and active lifestyle.

“What people often need more than anything else to solve a problem or combat an illness is information. Sometimes, the process of simply finding that information is the biggest hurdle for folks who have no idea where to start,” says Cortese. “Working with and supporting schools, centers, agencies and organizations that cater to people who need assistance and provide them with the resources they need is just one way each of us can help create a healthy community.”

Emulating the considerable stewardship, activism and far-reaching vision of both of her parents, Cortese has continued their mission to create solutions in areas within the community that are in need of resources, knowledge and support. Among many such projects, her father, the late Ross Cortese, started the School of Gerontology at University of Southern California, the first school of gerontology in the world. Her mother, Alona Cortese was well known for both her joie de vivre and genuine and generous care for others. Shortly before she passed away in 2006, she endowed the Alona Cortese Elder Law Center at Chapman University School of Law, which serves the elder population with pro bono legal assistance.

“With ‘Health Matters,’ we’re able to reach a larger audience and provide them with answers or resources, or both, in their search for information about their own health and well-being,” says Cortese. “It’s an exciting way to ‘get the word out’ about today’s medical headlines, and explain it so that we all understand.”

Leisure World Active Adult Communities has grown exponentially under Cortese’s leadership in the last decade. Approximately 70,000 people call Leisure World home in eight communities nationwide. Her father built the first active adult community in the early 1960s, and today, in some Leisure World communities, second-generation family members are now residents.

Formerly, Cortese was associate producer of news at KCOY in Santa Barbara, and also followed and reported on commodities for the EF Hutton branch. She likes to mention that early on, she interned with Robin Leach at CNN and also did the “Early Morning Pig Report” on KRAK radio in Sacramento.

Alona Cortese Elder Law Center
The Alona Cortese Elder Law Center partners with local legal aid organizations and pro bono attorneys to provide seniors with legal help. Founded in 2000, the center provides service to the needy elderly in Orange County. Some of the services provided at the Elder Law Center are drafting of a will, advance health care directives, representation at an administrative hearing and elder abuse. Students also help advise them about their rights as consumers, and help them protect themselves from financial abuse.

RCC, Inc., Developer of Leisure World Active Adult Communities
Approximately 70,000 people now call Leisure World their home in eight communities nationwide. The late Ross Cortese built the first active adult community in the early 1960s and went on to create the Leisure World developments. Today, Del Webb and Rossmoor/RCC, Inc., are the most experienced developers in this housing niche. In some of the Leisure World communities the second generations within families are now residents. In these cases, the families often bequeathed the manors to their children for future retirement purposes.

Laurie McLaughlin, producer

A Chapman University alumna, Laurie McLaughlin focuses on the value of health information and the clarity in which it is presented within “Health Matters with Dr. Larry Santora.” McLaughlin underscores the importance of what she says are “guests who are leading doctors, scientists and authors who honestly want you to understand every word they are saying. We continuously showcase an extraordinary group of people who make it their business to see that we are all healthy.” McLaughlin is also the associate producer of another Chapman University television series, “Dialogue with Doti and Dodge,” a lively general-interest talk show hosted by the university’s President Jim Doti and university Trustee Kristina Dodge. Previously, McLaughlin produced, reported and anchored the news on ZIZ television and radio in St. Kitts, where she also served as a Peace Corps volunteer.