The Piedmont Heart Institute has received a $20 million grant from the Marcus Foundation to establish a heart valve reference center at Piedmont Hospital. As a regional reference center, the Marcus Heart Valve Center will be a one-stop shop for patients with heart valve problems and physicians wanting to learn the latest advancements in treatment for these complex patients and increase access to care.

“Atlanta is the perfect place for this unique center, and Piedmont Heart Institute is the organization that will make it happen,” said Bernie Marcus,  philanthropist and one of Atlanta’s biggest ambassadors, from co-founding Home Depot to building the Georgia Aquarium. “We have an international airport, a great hospitality industry and excellent medical expertise. My goal is to enhance the latter and  provide our experts with new tools and capabilities needed to help more people across the country.”

The Marcus Foundation, dedicated to Jewish causes, children, medical research, free enterprise and the community, has funded many healthcare enhancements in Atlanta, including neurosciences at Grady Health System and The Marcus Autism Center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. “We take this charge very seriously,” said Charles Brown, M.D., interventional cardiologist and chief medical officer of Piedmont Heart Institute.  “It energizes us more than ever when we earn the trust of philanthropists willing to lend their names to heart care at Piedmont.

It started with the late J.B. Fuqua, after whom the Fuqua Heart Center of Atlanta at Piedmont Hospital was named, and it grows with Bernie Marcus’ trust that we will build a valve center worthy of the Marcus name.” The Marcus Heart Valve Center will provide a seamless patient experience and package services into the most convenient time frame for them and their families.

A patient navigator will walk them through treatment while a multidisciplinary team of cardiovascular specialists creates individualized treatment plans for these complex valve patients, who often have multiple medical conditions. Lower mortality rates are one of the many benefits of this patient-centered, integrated care model. The center is also expected to draw more renowned surgeons and other specialists to Piedmont in Atlanta.

As a regional reference center, it will be the nation’s first comprehensive valve center for care, training and research regardless of the valve where the damage occurs – aortic, mitral, pulmonary or tricuspid valve - or the reason for it - congenital or acquired. Piedmont Heart Institute is developing an academic relationship with one of the nation’s most experienced valve experts and teaching centers to create the education component for practicing physicians and patients and establish best practices in care.

“This center fills a void in the community and region by offering a coordinated and integrated care model,” said Sidney Kirschner, president and CEO of Piedmont Heart Institute. “Most importantly, it improves the quality of life for patients and their families. Once created, the rising demand for services and the Piedmont Heart business model ensures the long-term sustainability of the center.”

According to the American Heart Association, mitral valve regurgitation is the most common type of heart valve insufficiency in the United States. Because prevalence increases with age, the growing population of people over 65 will create increased demand in an already undertreated area, according to well-respected cardiology journals. “The skill and experience of the surgeon are probably the most important determinants of whether repair or replacement surgery is performed,” Dr. Brown said.

“Repair is the treatment of choice when surgical skill and expertise are available. Appropriate treatment results in better outcomes and quality of life for patients. “A program like this one will provide the people of Atlanta, Georgia and the Southeast the opportunity to have the most appropriate surgical procedures applied in heart valve repair versus replacement, thereby taking advantage of not being on blood thinners,” Dr. Brown added.

In addition to Piedmont Hospital being named Best in Atlanta for Overall Cardiac Care, Cardiac Surgery and Coronary Intervention by HealthGrades®,  a leading healthcare ratings company, Piedmont Heart Institute Physicians are leaders in many areas of heart care. Among many accomplishments, Piedmont heart specialists:

• Provide patients with access to the Medtronic CoreValve clinical trial, which involves implanting valves through a catheter rather than open-heart surgery, which is often not an option for older patients. Piedmont Hospital is one of 40 hospitals in the United States participating in the CoreValve trial.
• Lead the nation in treating chronic total occlusions of the coronary arteries. Regularly host renowned cardiologists from around the world for on-site training in this technique.
• Offer the most experienced and successful adult ECMO program in Atlanta. ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) is a life-saving procedure that gives failing hearts and lungs time to heal without harming critical internal organs.
• Give people with heart failure a better quality of life through the latest heart assist devices and heart transplants.
• Serve as one of the leading centers in the country for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, in particular catheter-based ablation therapies. This common arrhythmia  frequently accompanies patients with heart valve disease.

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