Schillo to Have Bypass Surgery After Heart Attack

Ventura County Supervisor Frank Schillo is scheduled to undergo bypass surgery today after suffering a mild heart attack Wednesday.

Schillo, 67, went to his family doctor in Thousand Oaks complaining of chest pains Wednesday and was taken by ambulance to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard. He was diverted from Los Robles Regional Medical Center because the hospital was full.

Schillo is in good spirits, alert and itching to get back to work, said Dr. Richard Ashby, medical director of Ventura County’s health care plan.

The surgery is expected to be relatively routine.

“It’s major surgery,” Ashby said. But “the risks are less than 1% of serious problems. I have every expectation he’ll leave the hospital in several days.”

The surgery is a coronary artery bypass graft, in essence a detour in which a blood vessel is taken from elsewhere in the body then attached to the artery, bypassing the blockage.

Ashby said this is the first time that Schillo, who has been on the board since 1994 and was previously a Thousand Oaks councilman, has been admitted into a hospital as a patient.

Supervisor John K. Flynn said he expects to visit him at the hospital within the next several days.

“I hope he’ll be on his feet very soon. That’s my prayer for him,” Flynn said.

Schillo’s hospitalization comes as the Board of Supervisors is tackling the issue of funding for public safety agencies. Schillo is ardently opposed to any changes to an ordinance that gives hefty increases to the departments.

The possibility of a long recovery brings action on that issue into question.

“Frank has a certain position on some issues that is pretty strong,” Flynn said. “The question is, Should we vote or wait?”

Flynn said he would check with Schillo to hear his opinion. A decision to postpone action on the public safety issue would be up to the board.

Schillo’s chief of staff, Corliss Christiansen, said that she spoke to him Thursday morning and that he was upbeat.

“As far as energy and attitude, he was perfectly normal on the phone,” she said.

They even joked about the sympathy pains Schillo appeared to be feeling for Vice President Dick Cheney, who received an angioplasty Monday.

“Frank’s a good conservative Republican, and they dress similarly,” she said. “But this is taking it too far.”