MIDDLETOWN, NY — A partnership between Garnet Health’s Peter Frommer, M.D. Heart Center and the Columbia University Irving Medical Center means that interventionalist cardiologists are practicing in the area. 

They’re performing minimally invasive, lifesaving complex heart-valve procedures such as transcatheter aortic valve replacement, the hospital said. 

“Garnet Health’s structural heart services allow for patients to be treated locally, receiving expert heart care without the stress of traveling far from their loved ones,” a hospital spokesperson said.

 The structural heart services team is led by Susheel Kumar Kodali, MD, director of the Structural Heart and Valve Center at Columbia University Irving Medical Center/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and a professor in medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

Specializing in structural heart disease, Dr. Kodali has been at the forefront of worldwide research and valve techniques, particularly transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), since 2005. 

“In both Orange and Sullivan counties, we know that heart disease is a leading cause of death,” said Jonathan Schiller, president and CEO at Garnet Health. “Growing our award-winning heart care program in this way recognizes the needs of our community. Partnering with Columbia University Irving Medical Center allows us to provide our patients who have heart-valve disease a direct pathway to care from expert interventional cardiologists, skilled in advanced and minimally invasive valve procedures.”

In addition to Dr. Kodali, Garnet Health’s structural heart services team features specialists Mahesh Madhavan, M.D., interventional cardiologist; Luigi Pirelli, M.D., cardiothoracic surgeon; Mark Lebehn, M.D., structural echocardiographer; and Marco Veintimilla, clinical coordinator. The team also includes expert support staff and a skilled cardiac intensive care unit. 

Structural heart services include minimally invasive procedures, providing a shorter hospital stay and reduced recovery time. In cases of aortic stenosis, where patients have damaged or stiff aortic valves, the TAVR procedure is performed. The doctor uses a catheter to insert a replacement valve that effectively takes over for the damaged valve. This procedure offers a less-invasive solution to open-heart surgery.

Learn more about the structural heart services program at Garnet Health. 

About Garnet Health

Garnet Health is a New York State nonprofit headquartered in Middletown, NY. It is the corporate parent of Garnet Health Medical Center, Garnet Health Medical Center - Catskills, Garnet Health Doctors, Garnet Health Urgent Care, Garnet Health Foundation and Garnet Health Foundation - Catskills. Garnet Health is dedicated to developing specialty services, medical programs and needed health care services that allow residents to remain close to home to receive quality care.

To learn more about Garnet Health, visit www.garnethealth.org.