At Stony Brook University Hospital, we take great pride in our comprehensive heart program, which has a long legacy of bringing the best in cardiac care to our patients and their families. And the Heart Institute’s top three-star rating from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) is a testament to just that.
The three-star rating — denoting the highest category of quality — is for patient care and outcomes in isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), also known as heart bypass surgery. Only 6.1 percent of all hospitals participating in the STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database in 2020 received the top STS rating. The three-star ratings in 2017, 2018 and 2020 places Stony Brook University Hospital among the elite programs in the U.S. and Canada.
“CABG surgery is the most often performed cardiac surgery, but like any open-heart procedure, it requires a high degree of expertise to achieve clinical excellence — an expertise that is well demonstrated by our distinguished cardiothoracic (CT) team,” said Henry J. Tannous, MD, Co-Director of the Heart Institute; Chief, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery; and General T.F. Cheng Chair, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University.
In addition to Dr. Tannous, the Heart Institute CT surgeons include Jorge M. Balaguer, MD, Director, Hispanic Heart Program; Allison J. McLarty, MD, Surgical Director, Ventricular Assist Device Program and Director, Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) Program; and Sathappan Kumar, MD. And the team is growing, as we welcome cardiothoracic surgeons Ankit Dhamija, MD, and Jonathan Price, MD.
“A patient-centered, multidisciplinary approach is the hallmark of the care offered by the Heart Institute’s cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery programs,” noted Hal A. Skopicki, MD, PhD, Co-Director of the Heart Institute; Chief, Division of Cardiology; and the Ambassador Charles A. Gargano Chair, Renaissance School of Medicine. “Excellence in cardiac care is defined and woven into everything we do here at Stony Brook Heart Institute.”
Together, we remain focused on serving our community with the full spectrum of lifesaving cardiac interventions in the hands of our expert cardiovascular team. It takes a collective commitment to achieve this type of result that is all about the safety, quality of care and, ultimately, the optimal outcome for the patient.
Congratulations to our entire Heart Institute staff and all the multidisciplinary teams involved that are emblematic of this top rating — a reflection of Stony Brook’s longstanding commitment to cardiac care excellence.
Learn more about the Heart Institute and its three-star rating from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.
Carol