Mercedes K.C. Dullum, M.D.

Mercedes K.C. Dullum, M.D., is the surgical director of the Heart Failure Center at Cleveland Clinic in Florida and South Florida’s only female board-certified cardiothoracic surgeon. She specializes in heart failure, minimally invasive cardiac surgery, beating heart surgery, atrial fibrillation surgery and heart disease in women.

A passionate clinician and researcher, Dr. Dullum is continually making strides in the advancement of cutting-edge procedures, especially in the treatment of heart failure and in beating heart bypass surgery. In 2005 Dr. Dullum was the recipient of the Physician of the Year Award presented annually by the South Florida Business Journal. Prior to joining Cleveland Clinic, she also was named one of the top cardiac surgeons in Washington D.C., by Washingtonian Magazine for several years.

Throughout her life, Dr. Dullum has known that she wanted to take care of people. Along with helping to care for her grandparents when she was younger, she would “patch up” her dad and two older brothers, when they got injured while racing go-carts in her hometown of Montego Bay, Jamaica. Today Dr. Dullum is especially devoted to improving women’s cardiac care. Through her involvement in numerous educational seminars and screening events, she has become a leading proponent women’s heart disease prevention in South Florida.

Dr. Dullum came to the United States in 1972 to attend the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree. She earned her medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia and completed a general surgical internship and general surgical residency at the University of Mississippi’s Medical Center, eventually serving as chief resident of general surgery. Dr. Dullum went on to complete a thoracic surgery residency at the George Washington University Medical Center and is board certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery

Dr. Dullum applies her two decades of surgical experience as an editorial board member of The Heart Surgery Forum, co-editor of the CTS Net Beating Heart Center, a reviewer of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, and an editorial board member for the International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery. She is also a cardiac surgery consultant for the American Board of Thoracic Surgery and an advisory board member for the Georgia Tech/Emory Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Howard Bush, M.D.

As chairman of the Department of Cardiology at Cleveland Clinic in Florida, Howard Bush, MD, oversees a staff of nine cardiologists and approximately 55 medical support personnel. He is director of the hospital’s Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and head of its Chest Pain Alert Team, supervising the care management of patients that present in the emergency room with cardiac symptoms.

Under his leadership, Cleveland Clinic in Florida has earned significant industry recognition for its ability to deliver high quality cardiovascular care to patients. In 2007 it was named one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals® for cardiovascular care by Thomson Healthcare and one of just three hospitals in Florida to receive the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines–Coronary Artery Disease Annual and Sustained Performance Achievement Award

Winner of the South Florida Business Journal’s 8th Annual Excellence in Healthcare Award in 2006 for a hospital-based program, the Chest Pain Alert Team at Cleveland Clinic is recognized as one of the best in the nation with a “door-to-balloon” time that averages 60-70 minutes. This is well below the national average of approximately two hours and exceeds the industry recommended guideline of 90 minutes for this national quality of care standard. It has been with Dr. Bush’s guidance and inspiration that the heart care team at Cleveland Clinic has achieved so much.

A graduate of Syracuse University, Dr. Bush earned his medical degree from New York Medical College. He completed advanced training in internal medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. His advanced training in cardiovascular diseases and interventional cardiology were conducted at the Texas Heart Institute in Houston. Prior to joining Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Bush was an instructor in medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine.

Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, Dr. Bush is a member of the American College of Cardiology, the American College of Chest Physicians and the Society of Cardiovascular Angiographers and Interventionalists.

Walter Douglas Boyd, M.D.

Cardiothoracic surgeon Walter Douglas Boyd, M.D., with Cleveland Clinic in Florida, is recognized throughout the worldwide medical community for his pioneering work in cardiothoracic surgery and the use of robotic surgical systems. He is a vital asset not only to patients from Florida, but also to patients from around the world who travel to Weston seeking his expertise.

Dr. Boyd has been actively involved in developing and teaching new robotic procedures, using the da Vinci Surgical System, and is one of North America’s most experienced tele-robotic heart surgeons. He is currently involved in numerous clinical research activities that include utilization of automated vascular connectors in robotic bypass surgery and the development, application and teaching of intra-operative laser angiography systems. These efforts are aimed at improving patient outcomes after coronary bypass surgery. Dr Boyd has also been actively involved in preliminary cardiac regeneration studies using minimally invasive surgical techniques along with intracellular matrix and stem cell technology to re-grow damaged heart muscle and repair hearts weakened by infarcts.

Prior to joining Cleveland Clinic’s Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery in 2002, Dr. Boyd was director of the National Center for Advanced Surgery and Robotics at the London Health Sciences Centre in Ontario, Canada. While there he completed the world’s first closed-chest, beating-heart coronary artery bypass surgery with the use of the ZEUS® Robotic Surgical System. He also conducted the first robot-assisted cardiac procedure in Canada, as well as the country’s first beating-heart robotic bypass procedure.

A graduate of Carleton University in Ottawa, Dr. Boyd earned his medical degree from the University of Ottawa, where he also completed his residency in cardiovascular and thoracic surgery. In addition, he completed fellowships in transplantation/mechanical assist devices and medical education at the Ottawa Heart Institute and the University of Toronto, as well as a mini-fellowship in lung transplantation at Washington University.

Certified by Canada’s Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in cardiothoracic surgery and general surgery, Dr. Boyd is a member of the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation, Canadian Cardiovascular Society, International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation, International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery, and the Society of Thoracic Surgery.