MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Patients in the Parkersburg, Charleston, and South Charleston areas, as well as Southern West Virginia, will benefit from expanded cardiac services at two WVU Medicine hospitals that serve those regions: WVU Medicine Thomas Hospitals in South Charleston and WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center in Parkersburg. The expanded services will include an open-heart program at Thomas Memorial Hospital in Kanawha County.
“This is about building the infrastructure – the people and programs – necessary to meet the high demand for cardiac services in our combined service areas,” Greg Rosencrance, M.D., president and CEO of Thomas Hospitals, said. “The needs are significant, and over time, we will transform Thomas Memorial Hospital into a regional referral center for advanced cardiac care that is fully affiliated with the West Virginia University (WVU) Heart and Vascular Institute, which is anchored in Morgantown.”
Thomas Hospitals will work with Camden Clark Medical Center, an experienced provider of invasive cardiac and open-heart services, to develop the new services at Thomas Memorial, enabling the two to operate a joint cardiac surgery program with shared cardiac surgeons and policies for patients at both hospitals.
“This new model of shared services will improve access, quality, and efficiency of cardiac services and continuity of coverage to patients suffering life-threatening events,” Steve Altmiller, president and CEO of Camden Clark Medical Center, said. “We are pleased to be able to expand our award-winning cardiac programs to the broader region served by both of our facilities.”
The services will be directed by a cardiovascular surgeon employed under the leadership of the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute. The joint program will provide increased access with more consistent coverage at both Thomas Memorial Hospital and Camden Clark Medical Center, facilitating more cardiac surgeries than are currently offered and provided. The expanded services will be available at Thomas Memorial Hospital later this year, subject to certain regulatory approvals.
“The mission and purpose of WVU Medicine and the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute is to ensure that every patient in our West Virginia community and neighboring regions has access to the most advanced cardiovascular care available,” Vinay Badhwar, M.D., executive chair of the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute and Gordon F. Murray professor and chair of the WVU School of Medicine Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, said. “This opportunity to form a joint heart program will substantially enhance our collective ability to deliver on our promise to the patients and families of south-central West Virginia, without the need for them to travel far from home to receive care of the highest quality by our superb cardiac surgeons and cardiologists.”
The WVU Heart and Vascular Institute was recently named one of the top 50 cardiac surgery programs in the United States by Healthgrades. It is also the top-ranked cardiac surgery program in West Virginia by U.S. News & World Report.
About the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute
More than 100 cardiovascular-focused faculty and 1,500 affiliated team members of the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute provide nation-leading innovations in complex valve therapy, robotic surgery, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and transplantation. The Institute’s distinguished faculty and their dedication to excellence and innovation have positioned the Institute as the leading national center for robotic cardiac surgery in the United States. For more information, visit WVUMedicine.org/Heart.