"We have been rapidly building the Seton Heart Institute to cater to Central Texans' demand for top-of-the-line cardiovascular care at locations close to home," said Dr. Mark Pirwitz, MD, FACC, SHI president and chief executive officer.
Seton Heart's highly skilled cardiologists,
who now number 23, offer a full array of cardiovascular
services from non-invasive care to advanced heart
failure.The first electrophysiologists (EPs) to join Seton Heart are Drs. Jason Zagrodsky, Javier Sanchez and Kristopher Heinzman. EPs, also known as "electricians" in the cardiology world, treat rhythm disorders of the heart using technology such as defibrillators, pacemakers and other devices.
Seton Heart also recently unveiled a new, renovated space at its headquarters in Medical Park Tower next to Seton Medical Center Austin. The new area doubles the practice's main office with twice as many exam rooms and offers a larger, more comfortable waiting area.
With the team nearly in place, Dr. Pirwitz and his Seton Heart colleagues are looking to the next chapter - spearheading the launch and growth of a comprehensive cardiovascular research program.
"By leveraging our historic partnership with the UT Southwestern Medical Center, we aim to make Seton Heart Institute a major research center in the region," commented Mark Hazelwood, president and chief executive officer for cardiology services at Seton Healthcare Family. "The Seton Heart Institute's primary goal is to get patients back to good health as quickly as possible. That is why we have strategically placed specialists in convenient locations where patients can have easy access to top quality cardiac care while also bringing innovative medicine to the community via research studies."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. and is a major cause of disability. In 2010, an estimated 785,000 Americans had a first coronary attack, and about 470,000 had a recurrent attack. About every 25 seconds, an American will have a coronary event, and about one every minute will die from one.
The Seton Healthcare Family provides top-quality care for patients with complex cardiology conditions, as evidenced by its advanced heart failure programs, which was the impetus for the recent formation of the SHI, a physician practice group integrated within Seton and primary care health care facilities throughout the region. With SHI, Seton allows greater convenience for patients to receive high-quality cardiovascular care.
Seton is proud to have four hospitals – the only hospitals in Central Texas - that have earned the