October 25, 2006
Contact: Susan Brandt, (430) 947-4730

Cardiovascular Associates of Central Virginia has joined Centra Health in a move that will strengthen and enhance access to cardiac care for patients throughout the region.

“We are very excited about what this will mean for the future,” said Tom Jividen, Centra Health senior vice president. “Our national reputation for cardiac clinical excellence is the result of years of collaboration. As one organization, we will be stronger going forward and can serve the region more effectively.”

“We see the future of cardiology as not only being outcomes driven, but also cost driven,” said cardiologist Thomas Nygaard, M.D. “To provide the best outcomes at the best price, it is important to have a very unified system.”

Dr. Nygaard said in many cities, physicians are competing against hospitals to provide patient care, which can lead to duplication of expensive equipment, technology and services. “We have a long history of collaboration and working with Centra Health,” he said, “and we want to build on that successful relationship.”

“Our region has come to expect outstanding cardiac care,” said George W. Dawson, Centra Health president and CEO, “and this helps ensure our commitment to continuing to provide that caliber of care.”

Dr. Nygaard, 12 other cardiologists and the practice’s 75 employees are now part of Centra Health as a subsidiary organization called The Cardiovascular Group. The Cardiovascular Group is part of Stroobants Heart Center of Virginia. The heart center now has its own board that includes cardiologists and Centra Health administrators.

The other physicians who make up The Cardiovascular Group are: William Brown, M.D., Dan Carey, M.D., Jason Hackenbracht, M.D., Chad Hoyt, M.D., Chris Lewis, M.D., Thomas Meyer, M.D., Carl Moore, M.D., Peter O’Brien, M.D., Matthew Sackett, M.D., David Truitte, M.D., Michael Valentine, M.D., and William Van Dyke Jr., M.D. These physicians join John Bell, M.D., David Frantz, M.D., and Robert Messier, M.D., cardiovascular surgeons who joined Centra Health a year ago. The nurse practitioners are: Kim Ayscue, MSN, NP-C, Allison Brooks, MSN, NP-C, Elizabeth Lamb, NP, Kristina O’Meara, MSN, NP-C, William Price IV, MSN, NP-C, Beth Poore-Bowman, MSN, NP-C and Joyce White, MSN, NP-C. Sima Salahie, P.A., is a physician assistant.

“We are building our reputation every day by putting our patients first, providing excellent outcomes and extraordinary service,” said Skip Meador, Centra Health vice president of cardiovascular and neurosciences. “This clearly has led to the growth and regionalization for this service for the community we serve. We believe in this new model that we can only be better.”

Centra Health consistently earns national recognition for its heart care, primarily because of the teamwork among the cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, emergency department physicians and Centra Health staff. Recently, Centra Health was named a 100 Top Cardiovascular Hospital in America by Solucient for the third time. Each year, heart center specialists perform more than 5,000 major cardiac procedures and routinely earn accolades for their quality of heart surgery outcomes and speed in reopening blocked blood vessels of emergency heart attack patients.

Recently, Centra Health’s cardiac cath lab was the only one in Virginia to earn a “better than expected” mortality rating. In addition, Centra Health opened Virginia’s first Acute Myocardial Infarction (heart attack) Center in 2004, and the program is supported by helicopter service bringing patients to Lynchburg from emergency departments in South Boston, Farmville and elsewhere.

All of the cardiologists are board-certified and have areas of sub-specialization within cardiovascular disease. The cardiologists also treat patients in satellite clinics in Bedford and Gretna. Joining Centra Health will help the cardiologists continue to sub-specialize, and Stroobants Heart Center and The Cardiovascular Group will look at adding more satellite clinics in the region.

Centra Health is in the midst of carrying out a sweeping plan to move the organization to the next level of performance to ensure its future as a top-rated, formidable regional health care system. The organization is focused on achieving higher standards in five critical success factors: people, service, quality, efficiency and finance. Creation of The Cardiovascular Group is an important part of that plan, and it contributes to all five areas.