October 8, 2012
St.Vincent Heart Transplant Earns National Medical Education Accreditation
Medical Residents Will Be Trained By Indiana's Most Active Heart Transplant Program
INDIANAPOLIS – St.Vincent recently earned the prestigious Advanced Heart Failure and Transplantation Cardiology Fellowship Accreditation. The dedicated faith-based hospital received the fellowship honor from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), which transforms resident physicians from medical student to independent, specialty practitioner.
The Advanced Heart Failure and Transplantation Fellowship complements the existing St.Vincent cardiology fellowship programs of electrophysiology, interventional and general cardiology. In addition, select medical residents will be affiliated with Indiana's top-rated cardiology and Indiana's largest and most active heart transplant program.
"Being selected by ACGME to provide heart failure and transplant fellowship training speaks volumes to the expertise and leadership of the physicians at St.Vincent," said Dr. Robert Lubitz, vice president, Academic Affairs and Research at St.Vincent. "In order to be selected to provide this fellowship, a hospital has to have the right patient volume, high quality of care, cutting edge research and the best physician teachers available.
Medical residents will be working with a dedicated team of congestive heart failure cardiologists, transplant cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons. As the largest program in the state, St.Vincent averages 20-30 heart transplants and more than 60 ventricular assist device (VAD) placements annually. In February, the health ministry celebrated the 25th anniversary of its first heart transplant.
"The new St.Vincent advanced heart failure and transplant fellowship program is one of the first in the nation to receive this accreditation," said Dr. Mary Norine Walsh, program director of the Advanced Heart Failure and Transplantation Cardiology Fellowship. "This new fellowship program adds to the portfolio of medical education at St.Vincent and augments our nationally-recognized cardiology fellowship."
As one of the busiest and most awarded programs for congestive heart failure, St.Vincent continues its multidisciplinary approach to patient care and treatment. St.Vincent is the only hospital in Indiana to earn the Joint Commission's Disease-Specific Care Certification for Heart Failure. The Joint Commission is the nation's premier healthcare accreditation entity. HealthGrades, a leading independent health care ratings company, has rated heart failure treatment at St.Vincent five-stars for seven consecutive years.
As a nationally-recognized program for congestive heart failure, patients receive individualized attention from specialty trained staff at the 20-bed Heart Failure unit. Much of the successes can be attributed to the multidisciplinary approach to patient care and treatment for the combine expertise of surgeons, cardiologists, nurses, nurse practitioners, care coordinators, pharmacists and social workers. Since the opening of the St.Vincent Heart Failure unit, cardiologists and cardiac nurses have treated more than 8,000 patients.
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St.Vincent Hospitals and Health Services
Driven by the faith of four Daughters of Charity who arrived in Indianapolis in 1881 with $34.77 in their pockets, the St.Vincent Hospital mission is to treat the poor and sick by following our Core Values of Service of the Poor, Reverence, Integrity, Wisdom, Creativity and Dedication. Our healthcare ministry has grown to include seven Centers of Excellence: Women's, Children's, Orthopedics, Cardiovascular, Neuroscience, Cancer Care and Bariatrics. The ageless mission of St.Vincent remains unchanged: to minister to the minds, bodies and spirits of those in need.
For more information contact:
Jen Dial
St.Vincent Health
Public Relations Consultant
(317) 583-4031
jkdial@stvincent.org