Accolades

Heart Institute at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

Congratulations to our Heart Institute staff for the following honors and awards. We are proud of your achievements!

2018 Pittsburgh's Best Physicians Named

The 2018 Best Doctors in America® list is out. Nearly 500 UPMC physicians in 70 areas of expertise made the cut. Many are from Children's Hospital's Heart Institute.

• Vivek Allada, MD
• Gaurav Arora, MD
• Lee Beerman, MD
• Stacey Drant, MD
• Brian Feingold, MD
• Jacqueline Kreutzer, MD
• Lizabeth Lanford, MD

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Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery Report

The Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery Report, released in June 2017 by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4), confirms that the Heart Institute at Children's Hospital is a statewide leader in pediatric heart surgery outcomes. The report shows hospital-specific volume and in-hospital mortality results for six hospitals (five in Pennsylvania and one in Delaware) that volunteered to have their data publicly reported and provided to PHC4 by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. The report covers the years 2012 to 2015. During the period, Children's performed 1,813 cardiac surgical procedures with outcomes surpassing both state and national averages. Nationally, Children's exceeded survival rates for the Norwood procedure, the benchmark operation used to correct hypoplastic left heart syndrome. The report also shows Children's had a 4.7 mortality rate — the lowest in the state — for neonatal heart surgery, and tied or lowest mortality rate in eight of the 10 procedures.

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Heart Institute Physicians Named Among Pittsburgh's Best Physicians

Among the Pittsburgh region's nearly 700 leading physicians across 80 specialties as ranked by Best Doctors, Inc., a number hail from Children's Hospital's Heart Institute. They are:

• Vivek Allada, MD
• Gaurav Arora, MD
• Lee Beerman, MD
• Stacey Drant, MD
• Brian Feingold, MD
• Jacqueline Kreutzer, MD
• Lizabeth Lanford, MD
• Victor Morell, MD

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Kühn Selected for ASCI Membership

Bernhard Kühn, MD, director of Cardiac Research for the Division of Pediatric Cardiology and Mellon Scholar, has been honored with a membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation. The American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), established in 1908, is one of the nation’s oldest and most respected medical honor societies. This honor recognizes Dr. Kühn’s significant contributions to the field of cardiac regeneration.

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Fellow Publishes Review Article

Lan Nguyen, MD, fellow in Adult Congenital Heart Disease, had a review article published. Her article, “Coarctation of the Aorta: Strategies for Improving Outcomes,” was published in a journal of Cardiology Clinics with a special focus on Adult Congenital Heart Disease.

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Alliance with FCV

The Heart Institute at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and Fundacion Cardiovascular de Colombia (FCV) announced an alliance on Jan. 16 to bring advanced pediatric cardiology services to Colombia.

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Excellence in Life Support

UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh’s Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) team has been recognized again by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) for Excellence in Life Support. The ECMO program first earned this distinction in 2009, and has been a leader in ECMO since the origin of the technology in the late 1970s, and continues to be recognized for exceptional outcomes, research, and education. The award will be presented at the 24th Annual ELSO Conference on Saturday, Sept. 21, in Philadelphia, Pa. Congratulations to the ECMO team for their exceptional work! Learn more about our ECMO program and transport team.

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Lee Beerman, MD

Dr. Beerman was awarded the Howard A. Mermelstein, MD, Memorial Award for Excellence in Pediatrics. The award recognized Dr. Beerman’s long standing contributions to Pediatrics and Pediatric Cardiology in the Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania region. It was presented at the 2013 Three Rivers Pediatric Update conference, held May 16 to 18, at the John G. Rangos Sr. Conference Center.

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Daisy Award

Cadiac Intensive Care Unit staff nurse Nancy Koontz, RN, BSN, (middle) was presented the prestigious Daisy Award by Diane Hupp, RN, MSN (left) vice president and chief nursing officer, for her extraordinary work with a patient and family. The Daisy Award, is a national award that recognizes individuals who go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that patients and their families receive the best care possible. Nancy demonstrates this type of compassionate care and she exemplifies every aspect of nursing. Also shown is Unit Director Carrie Vincett, RN (right).

 

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UPMC Nurses Week Presenters

Congratulations to the senior professional staff nurses from Children's CICU who gave presentations at UPMC Nurses Week, May 2013. The nurses, shown below with Unit Director Carrie Vincett, RN, highlighed the great work being done at the Heart Institute and inspired colleagues to continue to strive for excellence.