Billie Stallings – Three Decades of Support for Patients at UNC

For the past 30 years, Billie Stallings has supported patients and families seeking treatment for congenital heart disease as a philanthropist, board member and patient advocate. Working with UNC and the American Heart Association, her work has directly improved the lives of the state’s patients by helping UNC Health create an adult clinic so that patients with lifelong heart disabilities can receive all of their care here in North Carolina.

Billie’s son Eddie was diagnosed with a congenital heart condition at birth. Before his death at the age of 41, he underwent four open surgeries and required lifelong care that required extensive travel from North Carolina to Birmingham, Alabama. While at the clinic, she said that Eddie would visit other patients waiting for surgeries he had already been through and help them understand what to expect.

“He would knock on patients’ doors and ask them what they wanted to know that the doctors had not told them,” said Stallings.

The travel was expensive and physically exhausting for Eddie. That experience led the Stallings to help fund and establish the UNC Adult Congenital Heart Program’s clinic in Chapel Hill.  Having an adult clinic in North Carolina means that other patients will not have to travel for treatment like Eddie did, reducing the physical and financial stress on families so they can focus on their care.

“That clinic means so much to me,” she said. “This is a tribute to Eddie that will always be there.”

Before Eddie’s birth, Stallings was actively involved as a volunteer and donor for the March of Dimes as a way to honor members of her family who had polio. After her experience with Eddie’s treatment, she switched her focus to the American Heart Association. Her advocacy work extended beyond the state, including a visit to the White House to raise awareness for the AHA.

The Stallings family have been among UNC’s strongest financial supporters, contributing to multiple UNC Health and University philanthropic efforts for decades. Areas of support have included professorships in the Adams School of Dentistry and the Department of Exercise and Sport Science, where they also support student scholarships, as well as various significant contributions to the Rams Club in support of UNC student-athletes. Along with her husband, Don, Billie made a gift in 2010 that helped establish the Stallings-Evans Sports Medicine Center in honor of Eddie, a huge sports fan who wanted to become an athletic trainer. In 2014, Billie and Don each received the William Richardson Davie Award, the highest honor bestowed by the UNC Board of Trustees.

Stallings has built close relationships with many of the cardiology providers at UNC Health, particularly division chief Rick Stouffer, MD, and congenital heart disease interventional cardiologist Mike Yueng, MD. Just this year, in recognition of their deep ties to the UNC cardiology team, the Stallings committed to the establishment of the Billie and Don Stallings Distinguished Professorship in Congenital Heart Disease, which will support a faculty member within the division of cardiology. Once allocated, the recipient will receive annual support earmarked for congenital heart disease research and patient care.

Alongside her philanthropic support, Billie has served as chair of the UNC School of Medicine’s cardiovascular medicine advisory board and as a member of the UNC Health Foundation Board of Directors for more than a decade. As Billie’s tenure as a part of the UNC Health Foundation Board comes to a close this year, she said that she plans to continue working with patients and families with congenital heart conditions to get them care at UNC Health.

The process of navigating the healthcare system can be overwhelming for patients and families, and she works with providers and patients to help ease the transition to care.

“I’ve been down that road,” said Stallings.

For more information on supporting the UNC Division of Cardiology or the UNC Adult Congenital Heart Program, contact Matt Cain, Senior Executive Director of Development, at [email protected].