MORGANTOWN, W.VA. – People in the Charleston area and southern West Virginia will now have expanded and more convenient access to the advanced cardiac care provided by the West Virginia University (WVU) Heart and Vascular Institute with the acquisition of two Charleston-area cardiology practices – Mountaineer Cardiology and Stanton Cardiology Center – by University Health Associates, the affiliated practice plan of the WVU School of Medicine in Morgantown. The transactions closed on March 15.
The physicians and providers from those practices include John Goad, M.D., Shawn Groves, M.D., James Stanton, M.D., and Nancy Elwood, M.D. They will eventually care for patients in a new WVU Heart and Vascular Institute clinic to be located at the WVU Medicine Thomas Hospitals medical campus. For now, they will continue to see patients at their existing practice locations. Srinivasan Narasimhan, M.D., who joined the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute in February, will also be part of the group and is currently practicing at Thomas Hospitals.
“The purpose-driven efforts of WVU Medicine and the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute has led us to this exciting opportunity to welcome Drs. Goad, Groves, Nara, Elwood, and Stanton to our mission of continuing to enhance access to advanced heart care for all West Virginians,” Vinay Badhwar, M.D., executive chair of the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute, said.
“As a national leader in cardiovascular care, our teams of physicians are focused on providing evidence-based care of the highest caliber and service at all our locations. As we expand our services in Charleston to include comprehensive heart, vascular, and lung care, the addition of these superb and caring physicians is a very important step in our commitment to the patients of Charleston and south-central West Virginia. We look forward to the continued investment and recruitment of more physicians to expand our network of care across the region to drive excellence in heart and lung care and to the growth of our strong partnership with WVU Medicine Thomas Hospital and its leadership, as we drive important change together.”
Today’s announcement follows the March 13 announcement that WVU Medicine Thomas Hospitals, in partnership with WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center in Parkersburg and the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute, will expand its cardiac surgery services in response to the unmet needs and high demand for advanced cardiac surgery in the Charleston area and southern West Virginia.
“This is great progress and an important step as we start to transform Thomas Hospitals into a destination for advanced specialty care, including cardiac care,” Greg Rosencrance, M.D., president and CEO of Thomas Hospitals, said. “These doctors are all exceptionally talented and are a welcome boost to our efforts to increase access to specialty services while offering the public more options for their care.”
The Division of Cardiology at the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute is at the forefront of interventional and medical cardiology care. It serves the high-risk and most acutely ill with advanced services, while simultaneously focusing on the prevention of heart disease.
Since 2019, the Division’s cardiology teams have doubled their number of clinics and applied the most advanced imaging techniques available to diagnose and treat complex disease. Its structural heart team specializes in diseases of the heart valves, walls, and chambers and uses the latest percutaneous catheter-based techniques to treat all forms of structural defects, including aortic and mitral valve disease, congenital defects, and tricuspid valve regurgitation.
“We are truly honored to have these exceptional cardiologists join our team and be a critical part of our efforts to reach further into southern West Virginia to provide the most advanced cardiology care to the West Virginians who need them the most,” Ramesh B. Daggubati, M.D., interim chief of the WVU Division of Cardiology and director of the Institute’s Structural Heart Disease Program, said.
“Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in West Virginia, so building an exceptional team of cardiologists – one whose members know the community and understand its needs – is essential as we make every effort to provide our enhanced care for patients close to their home.”
The cardiologists joining the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute have decades of combined experience providing heart care to Charleston-area residents.
“I am very excited to join the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute team and work in close partnership with the other cardiologists and cardiac surgeons who will be working at Thomas in its expanded cardiac surgery program, as well as the many heart experts at the Institute’s main campus in Morgantown,” Dr. Stanton said on joining the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute.
“This represents a tremendous opportunity to build a comprehensive network of heart care experts who can come together to enhance the cardiac care of our patients across a large region.”
For more information on the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute, visit WVUMedicine.org/Heart.