Category Archives: Cardiology

LUMBERTON Southeastern Health soon will assume management of the day-to-day operations of Duke Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery of Lumberton. Southeastern Health has partnered with Duke Health since 2006 to serve patients throughout the region with a dedicated cardiology practice along with Southeastern Health Heart and Vascular, which is located on the campus of Southeastern Regional Medical Center, said Joann Anderson, Southeastern Health president and CEO. We sincerely value these patients and appreciate that they have entrusted both SeHealth and Duke with their heart and vascular needs during times of health crisis as well as health stability, Anderson said. The management change will take place in November. The transition from Duke Health to Southeastern Health will include a name change to Southeastern Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery of Lumberton. Duke physicians Drs. Charles Anene, Matthew Cummings, Terry Lowry, Sydney Short and Christopher Walters will remain on the staff. This is a very positive and beneficial change for our community, said Cummings, an interventional cardiologist. Until now, our ability to expand outpatient cardiovascular services has been limited by regulations which oversee partnerships such as the one between Duke Health and Southeastern Health. The sole purpose of the new agreement between Duke and Southeastern … Continue reading →

RIDGEFIELD, Conn. and INDIANAPOLIS, July 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced that the companies will support an American College of Cardiology (ACC) program focused on driving quality improvement in cardiology and addressing the latest research advances in the reduction of cardiovascular risk and cardiovascular mortality in people with type 2 diabetes. Despite recent advances, cardiovascular disease is still the leading cause of death associated with diabetes. Given that people with diabetes are two to four times more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than people without diabetes, cardiologists are treating more and more of the 30 million adults in the U.S. living with this condition who have experienced a cardiovascular event. Approximately 50 percent of deaths in people with type 2 diabetes worldwide and approximately two-thirds of deaths in people with type 2 diabetes in the U.S. are caused by cardiovascular disease. The new program will capture key learnings from cardiologists who are managing cardiovascular risk for people with type 2 diabetes and identify how and why these healthcare professional innovators are leading this challenge. The learnings will be shared with the wider cardiology community to help prepare them for their increasingly important … Continue reading →

There's never been a better time to be treated for a heart attack. U.S. hospitals have set a record for how quickly they open blocked arteries, averaging under one hour for the first time since these results have been tracked. More than 93 percent of patients now have their arteries opened within the recommended 90 minutes of arrival. "Things have definitely improved" from a decade ago, when less than half of heart attack patients were treated that fast, said Dr. Fred Masoudi, a University of Colorado cardiologist who led a recent report examining response times. It's based on records from about 85 percent of U.S. hospitals that do the artery procedure, angioplasty . Through a blood vessel in the groin or an arm, doctors guide a tube to the blockage causing the heart attack. They inflate a tiny balloon to flatten the clog, and leave behind a mesh tube called a stent to prop the artery open. The sooner blood flow is restored, the less chance of permanent damage. "It's one of the few things in medicine where time, literally seconds, is of the essence. It's where the phrase 'time is muscle' comes from," said Dr. Ajay Kirtane, director of … Continue reading →

Posted on 7/27/2017 MORGANTOWN, W.Va. Partho Sengupta, M.D., director of Cardiovascular Imaging and chair of the Center for Innovation at the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute, has been additionally promoted to chief of the Section of Cardiology in the Heart and Vascular Institute and in the WVU School of Medicine Department of Medicine. In just a short time at WVU, Dr. Sengupta has shown that hes a true Mountaineer a person who understands our purpose and our people, and who is committed to our patients, residents, and students, Clay Marsh, M.D., vice president and executive dean of WVU Health Sciences, said. We are lucky to have him, and Im grateful that hes willing to take on this new level of responsibility. We welcome Dr. Sengupta as section chief of cardiology and are already benefiting from our collaborative work with him that has helped us enhance our learners experiences on the cardiology services, Arif R. Sarwari, M.D., chair of the WVU School of Medicine Department of Medicine, said. Since his arrival, Dr. Sengupta has been warmly embraced by all faculty and staff as he has immersed himself in the clinical operations of cardiology through his signature style of grace and collaboration, … Continue reading →

The American Heart Association (AHA) has awarded Benjamin L. Prosser, PhD, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, its Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award. The AHA gave him the award to recognize his work on how to improve cardiac function in heart failure patients, according to a July 26 press release. He presented it earlier this month at the Councils 2017 Basic Cardiovascular Sciences meeting in Portland, Oregon. His research demonstrated that by softening the internal cytoskeleton of heart cells in patients with heart failure, they could make their heart beats stronger. In other research published last by Prosser, he found that in a study on rodents, microtubules provide sufficient, but not excessive resistance in health heart muscle. The findings were published in Science. Prosser earned his bachelors degree in health and exercise from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and his PhD in molecular medicine from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in College Park. Go here to read the rest: AHA recognizes Penn Medicine cardiology researchers - Cardiovascular Business … Continue reading →

LEWISTOWN Like any growing family, sometimes moving into a bigger home is a necessity, which is the case for Geisinger Cardiology Lewistown. The cardiology center, which was located in Burnham for more than 25 years, finally outgrew its space after adding additional providers for a total of seven cardiologists and two physician assistants. On June 12, the office opened at its new location on the fourth floor inside Geisinger-Lewistown Hospital, 400 Highland Ave., Lewistown. Matthew Nussbaum, associate vice president for Geisinger, said the location allows the staff to spread elbows more and give patients an added convenience by being part of the hospital campus. Now that we are close to the hospital, we can utilize patient services, expand outpatient services and offer five days a week diagnostic services, Nussbaum said. He also said by having the office in the hospital they can bring patients into the clinic for care and divert them from the emergency room. We can triage them here and then send them to the right department for better quality of care, Nussbaum said. The relocation also allowed the office to update almost all equipment, increase patient rooms from eight to 14 and utilize the hospitals valet service … Continue reading →

SHARON, CONN. Cardiologist Dr. Donald Soucier has joined The Heart Center at its Sharon Hospital location. It is a wonderful opportunity to become part of the Health Quest system and I look forward to continuing to provide patients with quality care close to home, Soucier said. A native of South Windsor, Conn., with more than 33 years of experience, Soucier previously served as the chief of staff and director of cardiology at Regional Healthcare in Sharon for 13 years. He also worked for Saint Francis Hospital in Hartford, Conn., as a staff physician in the department of internal medicine. His special interests include congestive heart failure and echocardiology, which refers to diagnostic testing that creates images of the heart using ultrasound waves. He is also trained in nuclear cardiology, which involves noninvasive techniques that assess the pumping function of the heart and visualize the size and location of a heart attack. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut in Storrs and earned his medical degree from the Kansas City College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kansas City, Mo. Soucier furthered his education with an internship, residency and fellowship in cardiology at John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Stratford, … Continue reading →

Medical City Denton has brought new cardiology services to Gainesville and surrounding communities north of Denton. Cardiologists Richard Ammar, Babu Makkena, Kamran Rizvi and Mian Yousuf at Medical City Denton, will see cardiology patients at the new Medical City Denton Specialty Clinic at 426 North Grand St. in Gainesville. Medical City Denton is proud to open this specialty clinic to help care for the growing populations of Muenster, Gainesville, Valley View, St. Jo and Whitesboro and provide lifesaving cardiology services to this community, said Steve Edgar, CEO of Medical City Denton. Our patients will save time and avoid additional travel by meeting with these top-quality cardiologists closer to home. Previously, patients who needed to see a cardiologist for initial diagnostic consultation and follow-up visits had to travel the 30 miles to Medical City Denton for heart and vascular consultation. Call 940-384-4599 for an appointment. Opening of the Medical City Denton Specialty Clinic in Gainesville was celebrated with a ceremonial ribbon cutting on Wednesday with the Gainesville Chamber of Commerce. Medical City Denton, formerly Denton Regional Medical Center, is a 208-bed, high-quality, acute care hospital with more than 850 employees and 300 physicians. Serving the people of North Texas, Medical City … Continue reading →

children's hospital HOUSTON Texas Childrens Hospital is the best place for children to receive cardiology and heart surgery care in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report. The organization listed the hospital system as No. 1 in its 2017-2018 edition of Best Childrens Hospitals. For more than half a century, the integrated, multidisciplinary team has combined cutting-edge technology with a compassionate and family-centered approach to care. Annually, more than 1,000 surgeries are performed and more than 26,000 patient encounters occur in the outpatient clinic. This unparalleled survey result is due to the dedicated work and passionate care our team provides children with heart diseases and defects each day, said Dr. Charles D. Fraser Jr., chief of congenital heart surgery and surgeon-in-chief at Texas Childrens Hospital. We continually strive to improve the quality of care for our cardiac patients by tracking our outcomes and remaining committed to developing innovative cardiac interventions and surgical treatment options to ensure optimum results for patients in need. Texas Childrens Heart Center cardiologists and surgeons are world-renowned leaders in pediatric cardiology, congenital heart surgery and cardiovascular anesthesiology, and strive to offer every procedure available for the treatment of pediatric heart diseases and defects for … Continue reading →

Beaufort County Council has appointed Dr. Stacey Johnston to the Beaufort Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees. Johnston replaces pediatrician Dr. James Simmons, who stepped down this spring after serving 10 years on the nine-member board. A board-certified family medicine specialist, Johnston has been a hospitalist at Beaufort Memorial for eight years. She is a graduate of Emory University School of Medicine and completed her residency at Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah in 2009. Johnston is the chief medical information officer for the hospitalist program and has served as its medical director for the last five years. She served as a Girl Scouts leader in Beaufort for seven years. Johnston will serve the remaining two years of Simmons third term. She was one of two candidates the board recommended to council to fill the vacant seat. County Council recognized Dr. Johnstons longstanding commitment to improving the health of the community, board chair Terry Murray said. We welcome her to the board and look forward to her contributions. Doran appointed VP of quality services Beaufort Memorial has named Shawna Doran its vice president of quality services, responsible for planning and leading all quality, patient safety, risk and patient experience initiatives. For … Continue reading →