St. Francis-Emory Healthcare Expands Cardiac Services Capabilities

St. Francis-Emory Healthcare announces the expansion of its cardiac services program, which has been affiliated with Emory Clinic’s Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery since 2016. The expansion is a result of an increased community need and expanded partnership with Emory Healthcare. Specifically, St. Francis is building on its existing cardiothoracic program – which currently provides the region’s only open heart program – with the addition of a second highly-trained cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon, as well as extended coverage for electrophysiology procedures. 

Sorin Pusca, MD, joined St. Francis Cardiovascular and Thoracic Institute in April alongside Jacob Davtyan, MD, who has served as medical director for cardiovascular surgery at St. Francis for the last three years. Dr. Davtyan oversees cardiothoracic surgery operations, including quality management, as well as performing cardiothoracic surgery himself. Dr. Pusca, along with Dr. Davtyan, will offer patients surgical treatment of coronary artery disease, valvular disease, diseases of the aorta, and general thoracic surgical procedures, including lung and esophageal surgery.

Additionally, St. Francis’ expanded partnership with Emory has enabled the hospital to extend electrophysiology (EP) coverage from two days per week to five days per week due to the arrival of Christine Tompkins, MD and Alex Chavez, NP. Dr. Tompkins will join the practice Monday, July 20, 2020, with current providers, David DeLurgio, MD and Anshul Patel, MD. Dr. Tompkins will focus on EP procedures like pacemakers, device implants, cardiac ablations, and other heart conditions. “St. Francis is the only hospital in the region to provide EP services, and we are proud to expand these services to meet the growing demand of our community and to ensure that patients are able to stay in Columbus rather than travel elsewhere for these procedures,” says Melody Trimble, chief executive officer of St. Francis.  

In an effort to further advance our capabilities as the region’s only hospital with comprehensive surgical cardiac services and EP services, St. Francis Cardiovascular and Thoracic Institute and St. Francis Electrophysiology relocated to the second floor of Butler Pavilion, 2300 Manchester Expressway on July 1, 2020. The move expands the practices to a large space to accommodate the growing cardiac service line. For more information on our cardiac services, visit MyStFrancis.com.