Keeping heart care in the family at Ascension St. Vincent Heart Center

Growing up, Dr. Kevin Ball had a front-row seat to his father's work. When Dr. Michael Ball was on call, Kevin was sometimes along for the ride. He spent time in the cath lab, wandered the halls of what would eventually become Ascension St. Vincent Heart Center and got to know many of the people who would one day become his colleagues.

At the time, he was just a kid spending time with his dad. Neither could have known that years later they would be working side by side as interventional cardiologists, caring for many of the same patients and continuing a family tradition of medicine that spans generations.

Today, Michael and his son, Kevin, share more than a last name. They share a profession, a passion for helping patients and a deep appreciation for the opportunity to learn from one another every day.

For Michael, medicine was always part of the family story. Growing up in a small Ohio farming community, he watched his own father serve as the town physician. His brother and two sisters also became doctors, and he eventually followed the same path, building a career in interventional cardiology that now spans nearly four decades.

Kevin grew up surrounded by those examples. Medicine was a familiar topic around the dinner table. While in medical school, he briefly considered other specialties, but that was short-lived. 

"I just kept finding my way back into the world of cardiology," he said. "And I couldn't be happier."

That decision eventually brought him back to Ascension St. Vincent Indianapolis, where he completed his residency and fellowship training. During those years, their father-son relationship took on a new dimension: teacher and student. 

"Getting to train him in the cath lab, it was awesome," he said. "I certainly was going to stay in there until I had him trained."

While Michael helped shape Kevin's foundation as a physician, the learning didn't stop there. Medicine evolved dramatically over the course of Michael's career. Procedures that didn't exist when he entered the field are now part of Kevin's everyday practice, giving the two plenty to learn from each other. The two regularly exchange ideas and seek one another's perspectives on difficult cases.

"Very seldom does a week go by that we aren't talking about a patient," Kevin said.

Their relationship extends far beyond the hospital walls. Family dinners, vacations and regular gatherings have kept the Ball family exceptionally close—a bond that has become especially meaningful given the demands of medicine.

Interventional cardiology can be unpredictable, with long hours, middle-of-the-night emergencies and high-pressure situations. Yet both physicians emphasize that caring for patients and caring for family have never been mutually exclusive.

Michael coached his children's sports teams throughout their childhood, despite the demands of his schedule. Looking back, Kevin said he now has a greater appreciation for the sacrifices his parents made and the effort it took to be present for family while building a career in medicine.

"He was always there," Kevin said. "Now, as an adult with kids of my own, I see how hard he must have worked to do that."

For Michael, watching his son build a successful career has been rewarding. Still, he is most proud of the devoted husband and father Kevin has become.

"He's used the most of his abilities," Michael said. "He's a great husband, and he's got a family now with my grandchildren."

The admiration goes both ways. When asked about his father's influence, Kevin doesn't hesitate. "He's my ultimate role model," he said.

As Michael looks toward the future, there is comfort in knowing that the patients he has cared for throughout most of his career will continue to receive care from someone he trusts completely.

"I have patients that I've taken care of for more than 35 years," he said. "I may not be leaving them because a lot of them Kevin will be able to take care of."

For both men, medicine has always been about more than procedures, appointments or years of training. It is about service, family and relationships that last a lifetime. Their patients know them as Dr. Michael Ball and Dr. Kevin Ball. But to Kevin, one title remains unchanged. He'll always be Dad.