MDNews - Central New York

would want for your husband or wife," he says. "It's communicating that way, empathizing that way and going the extra mile for each patient — the way you would want it done for your loved one. "If that's what we model every single day, nobody can beat us. That attitude — that commitment to quality and outcomes — is what defines cardiac surgery at St. Joe's." Pa r t of t he tot a l ca re ex per ience requires dedicated primary care physi- cians and cardiologists, as well as proper discharge planning. "Maximum medical management — that's what makes a world-class program," Dr. Green says. "If we didn't have the greatest cardiologists and best primary care physicians aligned with St. Joe's, we wouldn't be world-class." St. Joseph's Health quality outcomes for cardiology and cardiac surgery are well-documented. Earning three out of three stars in the most competitive data- base in the country, St. Joseph's Health lands in the top 10% year after year. "Anybody can put up good outcomes in one year — statistics often work that way," Dr. Green says. "When you reach it in multiple categories over many years, something is being done right here." St. Joseph's Health Cardiac Institute, established in 1976, continues to be one of the best programs in the nation, as evidenced by the many accolades and awards for quality and patient outcomes its program received over the past 46 years. Some of the hospital's many rec- ognitions include: + Hea lthg rades' A merica's 100 Best Coronary Intervention Award — 2022 + Hea lt h g ra des ' A mer ica's 50 B es t Hospitals for Cardiac Surgery — 2021 through 2023 + Society of Thoracic Surgeons' Top 6 Hospitals in the Nation for Cardiac Surgery, having the top distinction in five out of five cardiac surgical categories + American Heart Association/Mitral Foundation Reference Center Award for Mitral Valve Repair for demonstrated superior clinical outcomes in degener- ative mitral valve repair + Healthgrades' Valve Surgery Five-Star Recipient 10 yea rs in a row — 2012 through 2021 "This year, St. Joseph's Health received the highest rating possible from STS, a national cardiac surgical quality group, which confirms our excellent outcomes a nd dedication to high-level ca rdiac care," Dr. Falcone says. "These outcomes are the result of a ver y motivated and talented team of nurses, technicians and physicians, all focused on providing the best patient care." Dr. Fa lcone says St. Joseph's Hea lth cardiac care program continues to look to the future by developing advanced tech- nologies including minima lly invasive valve replacement, robotic cardiac sur- gery, new electrophysiolog y techniques a nd resea rching new ca rdiac vessel perfusion and stenting opportunities. " We continue to expa nd our cover- age a nd availability for patients from other hospitals in Central New York and beyond through our Care Flight helicop- ter and transfer programs," Dr. Falcone says. "Our goal is to be the absolute best cardiac care center, period." Dr. Green says emerging technologies and potentia l treatments are growing more rapidly every year and that, while you wa nt to be a n ea rly adopter, you wa nt to adopt technolog y that 's been proven effective. " There a re so ma ny competing tech- nolog ies right now, it 's ha rd to k now which one is most eff icacious, easiest for t he patient , etc.," Dr. Green says. "Having severa l surgeons in one place w ith the breadth of clinica l covera ge a nd dept h of ex per ience to sit dow n a nd decide wh ich ones to ex plore is a n oppor t u n it y none of u s h a s ever had before." "In our community, you don't need to go to Cleveland Clinic or Columbia or Stanford," Dr. Green says. "You can get rea lly great cardiac surgica l care right here in Syracuse at St. Joe's." " W hether it 's an eva luation for hear t disease, the need for urgent treatment of occluded coronar y vessels or treatment for a n abnorma l ca rdiac rhy thm, our ca rdiolog ists a re prepa red to render whatever ser v ices patients require," Dr. Fa lcone says. " I 'm rejoi n i n g t he b e s t s u r ge on s i n New York a nd probably beyond ," Dr. Green says. " They 're rea l ly out- standing surgeons, but they're also really outstanding people. W hen it comes to heart surgery, it's a team sport, and this is a dream team." n Ahmed Nazem, MD, performs a CABG procedure. M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S C E N T R A L N E W Y O R K n 2 0 2 3 1 9

• Cover