In its first year of operation, the Frances Langford Heart Center at Martin Memorial has been a life-saver for hundreds of Treasure Coast residents.
That made joining the heart center team all the more attractive for Michael Crouch, M.D., and James Thornton, M.D. cardiothoracic surgeons with the Ocala Heart Institute, which partners with Martin Memorial to staff the Frances Langford Heart Center.
“This is an outstanding program,” Dr. Thornton said. “There is outstanding camaraderie among everyone involved and there is excellent communication between our cardiology colleagues, the anesthesiologists, the perfusionists, our physician assistants and the entire clinical staff.”
Though the Frances Langford Heart Center was already off and running before they came aboard last fall, both surgeons have been involved in helping nascent heart programs develop. Dr. Thornton created a program from scratch in Alabama, while Dr. Crouch has helped three programs go through the start-up process most recently at Citrus Memorial Health System in Inverness.
“The medical community here in general is top quality well trained and very supportive,” Dr. Crouch said. “Its like coming into a win-win situation because the program is doing well and you have a great support system.”
The heart center has proven to be a valuable asset for community residents. In the first seven months since it opened on Aug. 1, 2006, approximately 340 open-heart surgeries and close to 1,000 interventional procedures such as angioplasties were performed.
“I sincerely hope that, with the good foundation already in place here, we can continue to grow so people will feel they never need to leave the community for cardiac services,” Dr. Crouch said. “We want people to believe Martin Memorial is the place to go for the very best care.”
In the coming years, Drs. Crouch and Thornton will play key roles in making that goal come to fruition.
“Weve been welcomed into the community with open arms,” Dr. Thornton said. “We know there is a tremendous amount of commitment not only toward the heart program, but the hospital as well. Thats very exciting to be a part of it.”