St. Francis Hospital’s Cardiac Surgery Program Recognized Again for Top Volume and Success Rates in New York State
Countering Nationwide Trend, Demand for Cardiac Surgery at St. Francis Remains Strong
Roslyn, New York – The cardiac surgery program at St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center® was recognized once again by the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) for having the largest cardiac surgical caseload in New York State and among the highest success rates. In its most recently published analysis covering 2006 to 2008, the NYSDOH reported that St. Francis surgeons performed 4,588 cases of isolated coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG), valve surgery, or combined valve/CABG surgery for the three-year period 2006-08, the most recent years for which data has been released.
Remarkably, the hospital’s total volume of cardiac surgery was 50 percent larger than the hospital with the next-largest caseload. St. Francis has consistently had the largest cardiac surgical volume in New York State since at least 1992, when the Department of Health began collecting, analyzing and reporting cardiac surgical outcomes.
The NYSDOH also recognized St. Francis for being one of six hospitals in the state that had risk-adjusted mortality rates significantly below the statewide average. St. Francis has been recognized for outstanding success rates in cardiac surgery 11 times in the past 15 years that the State has issued reports, more than twice the number of times than any other hospital in the metropolitan area has been recognized.*
In addition to recognizing the overall program, two of the most experienced surgeons at St. Francis Hospital were also individually recognized for having risk-adjusted mortality rates significantly lower than the statewide average: Roberto Colangelo, M.D., and James Taylor, M.D., Vice Chairman of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Director of Thoracic Aortic Surgery.
“This latest report documents what we have known for some time, that our heart surgeons and their open heart surgical teams set the highest standard in cardiac surgical care and treatment,” said Alan D. Guerci, M.D., President and CEO of St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center. “Setting the standard means not only achieving a high level of excellence, but also demonstrating consistent top performance over time. Our surgeons and their OR teams have done both and are to be congratulated on these outstanding results.”
Countering a nationwide trend, St. Francis Hospital also reported increasing demand for its cardiac surgical services. For the fourth consecutive year, the Hospital experienced growth in open heart surgical volume, with 1,630 cases performed in 2010, compared to 1,597 in 2009.
The 2010 and 2009 open heart surgical volumes are hospital-reported data; the other outcomes are in the report, Adult Cardiac Surgery in New York State, 2006-2008, which can be found on the New York State Department of Health website: http://www.health.state.ny.us/statistics/diseases/cardiovascular/
*Before 1998, the NYSDOH reported mortality rates for CABG only.
Contact:
Paul Barry, 516-705-6657, paul.barry@chsli.org
Rosemary Gomez, 516-705-6656, rosemary.gomez@chsli.org
