Tag Archives: University Health Systems

Mayo Clinic Leader Joins UHS As President

University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina announced today that Dr. David Herman, a physician leader with the Mayo Clinic, will join UHS as president of the health care system.

Herman currently serves as medical director of the Mayo Clinic Affiliated Practice Network. As UHS president, Herman will be responsible for the health system, including coordinating and integrating health care at all levels of service, from free community screenings and physician practices to local hospitals and tertiary medical care.

Dave McRae, chief executive officer of UHS, said the organization has been moving for some time toward a more integrated system of health care delivery, and Herman will lead that integration.

“Dr. Herman has experience in building a mature, integrated health care delivery system,” McRae said. “His leadership at one of the world’s premiere health care systems will guide us as we prepare for this new world of health care for eastern North Carolina.”

Herman has significant expertise and experience consolidating and integrating physician practice networks, developing formal relationships with national and regional provider groups and building operational structures to serve those relationships.

As director of the Employee and Community Health Program at Mayo Clinic Rochester, Herman worked to develop programs in the community and in the public school system that address chronic illnesses and diseases.

Herman currently is a consultant in ophthalmology at Mayo Clinic and a professor of ophthalmology in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. He has more than 90 peer-reviewed publications and served as a principle investigator for an NIH grant studying ocular hypertension and glaucoma.

Herman said his decision to relocate to eastern North Carolina was based on great potential to unify a system of care that will be critical in the coming years.

“Few organizations are in the unique position of being able to build a true system of care to address the care needs of the populations they serve,” Herman said. “I am impressed with the people who make up UHS, and I am eager to work with the team to design, execute and demonstrate this new system of health care. I am honored and eager to have a chance to serve in this new capacity.”

Herman currently serves on the board of directors for the Mayo Health System, the board of directors for the Western Region of the Mayo Health System, and is a member of the management team of Mayo Clinic. Herman also served as chair of the Mayo Clinic Rochester Clinical Practice Committee, an executive position similar to the role he will assume at UHS.

He currently serves on the board of directors and the Strategy and Personnel Committees for the Institute of Clinical Systems Improvement, directing the development of guidelines and protocols of care for preventive services, acute and chronic care.

Herman was recently named to the board of trustees of Ronald McDonald House Charities, the international charity that sponsors and supports Ronald McDonald Houses worldwide.

Via EPR Network
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Clinical Trial Studies New Treatment For High-Risk Heart Patients

A clinical trial under way at the East Carolina Heart Institute is testing the benefit of a new medical device designed to help high-risk people suffering from leaky heart valves.

Dr. W. Randolph Chitwood Jr., director of the Heart Institute and professor of cardiovascular surgery at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, secured the clinical trial for the MitraClip System for the treatment of mitral valve regurgitation (MR). A serious heart condition, MR can lead to arrhythmias and congestive heart failure if left untreated.

Dr. Curtis Anderson, a cardiothoracic surgeon and assistant professor of cardiovascular sciences, and Dr. Ramesh Daggubati, a cardiologist and clinical professor at Brody, collaborated to perform mitral valve repairs on two patients at Pitt County Memorial Hospital without making the traditional incision in the center of the chest to access the heart. Chitwood joined Drs. Rajasekhar Nekkanti and John Cahill, ECU cardiologists, to assist in the procedure.

In each case, the multidisciplinary team of cardiologists and surgeons placed a thin catheter in the patient’s groin vessel, guided a tiny clip through the heart’s septum and placed the clip between the leaflets of the valve to stop the leak.

“With mitral insufficiency, we normally use the heart/lung machine to either repair or replace the valve,” Chitwood said. “This new procedure is catheter-based, and can be used in high-risk patients who wouldn’t do well on the heart/lung machine. These patients have severe symptoms stemming from the leaky valve and can’t be operated on safely any other way.”

Chitwood said this new procedure “gives the East Carolina Heart Institute an entirely new set of tools for mitral valve repairs in high-risk patients. It is the least invasive way that we can fix a valve. Centers selected to perform these procedures have demonstrated expertise in applying new medical technology under FDA (Food and Drug Administration) guidelines.”

With the clip, patients leave the hospital the next day and within two or three days return to normal activities – or, in many cases, better-than-normal activities.

“Most of the patients are very sick,” said Daggubati, a clinical associate professor of cardiovascular sciences. “Medical management is the only option for them because surgeons consider the risk too high and the patients inoperable.”

Anderson said patient selection is the key to a successful outcome.

“I think a lot of patients with heart failure will be attractive candidates for this device,” he said, adding that collaboration among physicians is vital. “We want patients to have the confidence of knowing that cardiologists and cardiac surgeons are working side by side to give them the best possible outcomes.”

The mitral valve is a one-way valve that connects the left atrium to the left ventricle of the heart. With mitral valve regurgitation, the valve does not seal completely, and blood leaks back into the left atrium. This reversed flow can cause heart and lung damage, as well as death. Symptoms may include an audible heart murmur, shortness of breath and heart palpitations.

About the East Carolina Heart Institute
The East Carolina Heart Institute is a unique partnership that includes University Health Systems Pitt County Memorial Hospital and East Carolina University, along with cardiovascular experts in private practice, academic medicine and research. The East Carolina Heart Institute is the first in North Carolina devoted exclusively to education, research, treatment and prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

Via EPR Network
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