Heart News
June 27, 2007
Cape Fear Valley Health System today announced an affiliation agreement that will allow Cleveland Clinic to be the exclusive provider of cardiac surgery services at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. The long-term arrangement was approved during Cape Fear Valley’s Board of Trustees meeting on June 27.
Cleveland Clinic is home to the nation’s premiere heart program, which has been ranked No. 1 in the country by U.S. News & World Report’s "America’s Best Hospitals" for 12 consecutive years.
Cleveland Clinic invented coronary angiography, performed the world’s first cardiac bypass and continues to lead the way in developing state-of-the-art cardiac treatments. Now that world-class level of expertise is coming to Southeastern North Carolina.
Studies confirm that in the case of complex, specialized medical care for heart disease, the more experience the doctor and hospital have with the necessary procedure, the better the outcome.
Under the affiliation agreement, Cape Fear Valley and Cleveland Clinic will share clinical policies, treatment protocols and research opportunities. In addition, Cleveland Clinic will be responsible for program oversight, recruitment, clinical quality, systems and processes associated with Cape Fear Valley’s heart surgery program.
Local physicians chosen to practice cardiac surgery under the exclusive agreement have been credentialed by the clinic. This allows the surgeons to participate in leading-edge clinical conferences and educational programs regularly offered by the organization to its clinicians.
Cape Fear Valley has been performing open-heart surgery since 1992. The affiliation is effective June 27 and makes Cape Fear Valley just the fourth national affiliate of Cleveland Clinic’s prestigious heart surgery program. The others are Rochester General Hospital in Rochester, N.Y.; The Chester County Hospital in West Chester, Pa.; and Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, Wash. Cleveland Clinic’s satellite campus in Weston, Fla., also has an affiliate heart surgery program.
Based in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Clinic is a not-for-profit multi-specialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. It was founded in 1921 and has 1,800 full-time salaried physicians representing more than 100 medical specialties and subspecialties. Patients come to the Cleveland Clinic from every state and more than 80 countries.
Cape Fear Valley is a private not-for-profit health system with four hospitals totaling 616 beds, a dedicated Cancer Center, 12 primary care physician practices, Home Health & Hospice, freestanding outpatient care center and three urgent care centers. It is also Cumberland County’s largest private employer with more than 4,700 employees and approximately 450 physicians on staff providing a full range of services.
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