Heart to Heart

Twelve years ago our county hospital, then Indian River Memorial Hospital, established a heart center, and it immediately fulfilled its primary mission. That was to provide first-rate surgical and interventional cardiac care on site, so that patients would no longer have to endure the travel and waste precious minutes to get to a facility equipped to perform such life-saving practices. 

However, since 2006 the heart program, now known as the Welsh Heart Center, has accomplished far more. 

It has become a comprehensive provider of advanced cardiac care, with stellar ratings from nationally recognized professional and medical organizations that compare outcomes among academic and non-academic heart programs. It has enhanced its team and introduced the latest techniques for surgical and interventional cardiology. And it has fostered a patient-centered team approach to ensure the highest quality of care.

Not only has the heart center stayed on the cutting edge, but for a number of years it was the only heart program between Jacksonville and Miami performing a particular minimally invasive procedure to repair isolated aortic and mitral valves. Because of this, the Welsh Heart Center is on the receiving end for patients from other communities seeking valve repair without having to undergo open heart surgery.