25 Hospitals and Health Systems With Great Cardiovascular Programs

Here is a list of 25 hospitals and health systems with some of the greatest cardiovascular programs in the country. The facilities listed here are among the hospitals with the highest distinctions and awards given from other organizations and publications for heart care and feature some of the most advanced technology, highest quality of care and best reputations in the specialty.

Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University (St. Louis). The Heart & Vascular Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital is the only heart program in Missouri to be ranked as a top cardiology program in the country by U.S. News & World Report. The center performs more than 4,000 cardiac catheterizations and 1,250 interventional procedures every year. With more than 2,000 cardiology patients visiting the hospital each month, the center offers patient care in many areas, including arrhythmias, cardiac intensive care, cardiomyopathy, coronary artery disease and heart failure treatments. www.barnesjewish.org

Baylor Heart and Vascular Hospital (Dallas). The Baylor Heart and Vascular Hospital opened in 2002 and was the first North Texas hospital formed with the sole mission of caring and treating heart and vascular patients. The facility has the highest volume of percutaneous coronary interventions in North Texas, performing more than 8,000 interventional procedures a year. The staff includes more than 50 cardiologists and surgeons who treat patients requiring both non-invasive and surgical cardiovascular services. More recently, the hospital had the lowest readmission rate for heart failure patients in the country for the second year in a row, according to information collected by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. www.baylorhearthospital.com

Beaumont Hospital (Troy, Mich.). The cardiology program at 394-bed Beaumont Hospital received Specialty Excellence Awards from HealthGrades in cardiac care, cardiac surgery and coronary intervention, which places it in the top 10 percent of hospitals in the country for those specialties. The hospital offers seven non-invasive diagnostic tests for $70 and state-of-the-art technology, such as high-resolution coronary artery scanners to capture more precise images of hearts. The Ministrelli Women's Heart Center, the first of its kind in the state of Michigan, was established at the Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak campus. www.beaumonthospitals.com

Boca Raton Community Hospital (Boca Raton, Fla.). With approximately 1,000 heart-related procedures and 4,000 cardiac-related patient visits per year, the Christine E. Lynn Heart & Vascular Institute at Boca Raton Community Hospital is considered one of the top heart programs in the nation. It received Specialty Excellence Awards in cardiac care, surgery and coronary intervention from HealthGrades in 2010. Since the opening of the center in 2006, the facility has shown above average survival outcomes, including a coronary artery bypass mortality rate of 0.4 percent, opposed to the expected 2.9 percent. www.brch.com

Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston). U.S. News & World Report ranks the Carl J. and Ruth Shapiro Cardiovascular Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital as one of the top heart and heart surgery programs in the nation. The center performed world's first mitral valve operation, world's first catheterization of the right heart and pulmonary artery, is the first in the country to use electric current to restore normal heart rhythm, as well as the first heart transplant in New England. Additionally, it was one of the first hospitals in the world to have installed a hybrid 64-detector CT/PET. www.brighamandwomens.org

Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland). The Cleveland Clinic Miller Family Heart and Vascular Institute at Cleveland Clinic has been ranked no. 1 in heart and heart surgery by U.S. News & World Report for the past 15 consecutive years. In 2009 alone, the facility had almost 350,000 patient visits, over 4,000 cardiac surgeries and 60 heart transplants. The Miller Family Heart and Vascular Institute also recently made a new home in the Miller Family Pavilion, where there are 110 intensive care unit beds spread over four ICUs, robotically-assisted heart surgery suites and a new state-of-the-art design that optimizes accessibility. The Cleveland Clinic also operates a facility in Florida that received 2010 Specialty Excellence Awards from HealthGrades in cardiac care and cardiac surgery. my.clevelandclinic.org

Duke University Medical Center (Durham, N.C.). With 700 expert staff members, the world's largest cardiovascular MRI program, a congestive heart failure program and advanced coronary artery programs, it's no wonder U.S. News & World Report ranked Duke Heart Center among the top heart and heart surgery programs in the nation. Duke Heart Center also features the one of the only programs in the country for advanced coronary artery disease. The facility's mobile catheterization program has performed 10,000 procedures throughout central North Carolina and southern Virginia, and its interventional cardiology program performs more than 1,700 procedures each year. www.dukehealth.org

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia). One of the things that makes the heart and vascular program at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania one of U.S. News and World Report's top heart and heart surgery programs is its world-renown heart transplantation program. Its team is made up of transplant surgeons, cardiologists, cardiovascular imaging specialists, pulmonologists and others, and more than 2,000 cardiothoracic surgeries are performed at this facility every year. The heart failure program currently follows more than 3,500 heart failure patients and more than 650 heart transplant patients. www.pennmedicine.org/HUP/

Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore). The Heart and Vascular Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital recently made its home in the new Cardiovascular & Critical Care Tower in 2006. Cardiologists at this facility offer coronary angioplasty, arrhythmia ablations, pacemaker insertions, heart transplants and other cardiac surgeries and interventional radiology. The heart transplant program was started in 1983 and is accredited by the United Network for Organ Sharing, a national transplantation organization. The program was ranked as one of the top heart and heart surgery programs in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report. www.hopkinsmedicine.org

Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.). U.S. News & World Report ranked the heart care practice at the Mayo Clinic as one of the top heart and heart surgery specialty programs in the nation. With 26 clinics on site, more than 150 physicians on staff to provide care, and clocking in at tens of thousands of patient visits and thousands of surgeries per year, the heart care practice at the Mayo Clinic is able to effectively diagnose and treat more than 120 different cardiovascular diseases and conditions, including disorders of the heart, arteries, veins and lymphatic vessels. www.mayoclinic.com

Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston). The Heart Center at the Massachusetts General Hospital offers 11 condition-specific programs that help patients get the care they need. In addition, this facility is an international referral center for complex cases, such as thoracic aortic disease, cardiac resynchronization therapy and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. U.S. News and World Report ranks it in the top 10 programs in the nation with the best heart and heart surgery programs. www.mgh.harvard.edu

New York-Presbyterian University Hospital (New York). U.S. News & World Report ranks the Milstein Family Heart Center of New York-Presbyterian as one of the top specialty heart and heart surgery departments in the United States. It offers a wide range of diagnostic services as well as non-invasive and invasive treatment options, such as heart transplantation. The new six-level heart center houses 22 intensive care unit beds, two catheterization labs and eight operating rooms with the most technologically advanced equipment available. Additional advanced technology can be found in its electrophysiology labs and interventional cardiology labs. www.nyp.org

Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago). The Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital is made up of six clinical centers, including centers for coronary disease, heart failure, heart valve disease and women's cardiovascular health. The institute also has a heart transplant program that is ranked as no. 1 in the state for the third year in a row. Additionally, it has several institutes aimed toward clinical research for new therapies in cardiovascular medicine. U.S. News & World Report also ranked it among the top heart and heart surgery programs in the nation. www.nmh.org

Rochester General Hospital (Rochester, N.Y.). As the fourth largest cardiac center in the state of New York, Rochester General Hospital performs more than 1,100 cardiothoracic surgeries and 7,600 invasive coronary interventions every year. The new facility, opened in 2009, offers state-of-the-art technology with four cardiac catheterization procedure rooms, two electrophysiology labs and a 12-bed cardiothoracic intensive care unit. The hospital also features patient education and cardiac rehabilitation centers. The Rochester Heart Institute received 2010 Specialty Excellence Awards from HealthGrades in cardiac care, cardiac surgery and coronary intervention. www.rochestergeneral.org

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (Los Angeles). The Division of Cardiology at the Ronald Reason Medical Center leads the nation as one of the top heart and heart surgery programs, according to U.S. News & World Report, and features one of the country's the best cardiology programs. The facility offers programs such as cardiac rehabilitation, adult cardiac catheterization, stress testing and echocardiographic imaging. It also houses a cardiomyopathy center, cardiac arrhythmia center, cholesterol and lipid management center and a number of other clinics. www.uclahealth.org

Rush University Medical Center (Chicago). The Heart and Vascular Program at Rush University Medical Center offer comprehensive care for a variety of heart conditions. It houses Chicago's first center for women's heart care, early detection and screening programs, multi-disciplinary care for pulmonary hypertension and clinical research. The program is the first in Illinois to use the biventricular pacemaker and the first in Chicago to implant the DeBakey pump as a bridge for people awaiting heart transplantation. U.S. News & World Report ranks the program toward the top cardiology programs in the nation. www.rush.edu

Scripps Memorial Hospital (La Jolla, Calif.). The Heart Center at 312-bed Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla is the largest cardiovascular program in San Diego County. The facility performed heart catheterizations for 2,500 patients and electrophysiology procedures for more than 800 patients. The Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery Group at the facility performs over 700 open-heart surgeries every year. The Heart Center also has a minimally invasive robotic surgery program that offers minimally invasive treatments for a number of cardiothoracic surgical procedures. www.scripps.org

St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital (Houston). The more than 160-member staff at the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital puts research at the helm of its excellence. This facility's emphasis on understanding the prevention of cardiovascular disease is what puts it in the top 10 best heart and heart surgery specialty programs by U.S. News & World Report. Adult stem cell research, mechanical assist devices, non-surgical treatment of heart disease, heart imaging and electrophysiology are just some of the programs for which the Texas Heart Institute is known. The Texas Heart Institute also provides extra support through its multiple care centers, including the Center for Arrhythmias and Electrophysiology and Echocardiography Laboratory. www.stlukeshouston.com

St. Vincent Heart Center of Indiana (Indianapolis). The St. Vincent Heart Center is an 86-bed facility decorated with Specialty Excellence Awards from HealthGrades in cardiac care, cardiac surgery and coronary intervention. As a facility known to be one of Indiana's best hospitals, it leads the country as one of the best in the nation with its technology. Its Vascular Center of Excellence provides many options for diagnosis, such as MRA, CTA, arteriography, Doppler exams and ultrasound. Additionally, it has a Congestive Heart Failure Program and Women's Cardiac Risk Clinic to provide additional specialized support. www.theheartcenter.com

Stony Brook University Medical Center (Stony Brook, N.Y.). The Heart Center at Stony Brook University Medical Center is at the top of the list for hospitals that clamp down on mortality rates. The center was third best out of 98 hospitals across the country for cardiothoracic surgical mortality in 2008. Major contributions the Heart Center made are ReoPro, a technology used to prevent and treat heart attacks after angioplasty and stent procedures, and enhanced external counterpulsation, a noninvasive device for treatment of inoperable coronary artery disease. HealthGrades awarded the facility with 2010 Specialty Excellence Awards in cardiac care, cardiac surgery and coronary intervention. www.stonybrookmedicalcenter.org

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Passavant (Pittsburgh). HealthGrades gave the Cardiovascular Center at UPMC Passavant 2010 Specialty Excellence Awards in cardiac care, cardiac surgery and coronary intervention. UPMC offers its patients the full range of state-of-the-art diagnostic testing, medical and surgical treatment and offer preventative rehabilitative care. The center's staff performs more than 2,000 catheterizations, more than 500 procedures electrophysiology procedures, each year and more than 400 open-heart surgeries each year. www.upmc.com/passavant

University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Mich.). U.S. News & World Report ranks the Cardiovascular Center at the University of Michigan toward the top for best heart and heart surgery programs in the country for its research and wide array of services to patients. Its Center of Arrhythmia Research is the newest program, and the center is dedicated to researching how heart arrhythmias work. The cardiovascular center treats more than 6,000 inpatients and more than 35,000 outpatients, performs more than 4,800 electrophysiological procedures and more than 2,700 interventional radiology procedures annually. www.med.umich.edu/cvc

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Nashville, Tenn.). As one of U.S. News & World Report's top cardiology programs in the country, the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center has a staff of almost 100 medical professionals and offers a number of programs, including research, interventional cardiology, an inherited heart disease program and several sub-specialty programs, including cardiac MRI and nuclear imaging. The program is the first in the state to perform stem cell therapy and the first in the region to offer TandemHeart, a ventricular assist device for patients with severe heart failure conditions. www.vanderbilthealth.com

Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (Winston-Salem, N.C.). U.S. News & World Report places the Heart Center at 872-bed Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center as one of the top heart and heart surgery programs in the country. It offers a wide range of specialty services that include pediatric cardiology, cardiac rehabilitation, cardiovascular imaging and cardiothoracic surgery. It performs over 2,000 heart catheterizations, 1,300 coronary percutaneous revascularization procedures, 18,000 echocardiograms, 700 electrophysiology studies (including radio-frequency ablations), 700 pacemakers and ICDs, 700 Cardiac MRIs and 750 open-heart surgeries every year. www.wfubmc.edu/Heart-Center

Yale-New Haven Hospital (New Haven, Conn.). Of all the facilities in Connecticut, the Heart and Vascular Center at Yale-New Haven Hospital treats the most heart and vascular patients. The center is recognized as one of the top cardiology programs in the country by U.S. News & World Report. The services offered at the center include heart failure/transplantation, interventional and electrophysiology programs. Among its accomplishments, the Heart and Vascular Center surgeons have performed more than 30,000 open-heart procedures since the open-heart program began in 1956, and it ranks between the 93rd and 100th percentile for surgical safety for many procedures, including coronary artery bypass grafting and aortic valve replacement. www.ynhh.org

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