Meet our Surgical Team
Surgery is the treatment of choice for many serious congenital and some acquired heart disease. A team approach is essential for good results. All cases are discussed in detail at the weekly cardiothoracic surgery conference and all diagnostic material is reviewed at these conferences. The surgeon is critical to the overall outcome and both pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons at The Heart Center are very experienced in pediatric heart surgery and the results are excellent.
The overall team involved in the care of children with heart disease is listed in the Meet the Team section. In addition to this there are thoracic surgery office staff and staff from other areas involved in the surgical operations and postoperative care and they are outlined here.Cardiothoracic Surgery Office Staff
Perfusionists
Cardiac Anesthesiologists
Pediatric Intensivists
Pediatric Intensive Care Nurses
Social Workers
Operating Room Staff
Cardiothoracic Surgery Office Staff
The Cardiothoracic Surgery Office Staff are involved in scheduling surgeries
and contacting you about the arrangements. If you have any questions or want
to set up a separate meeting to talk to one of the surgeons, contact the office
staff at 801-588-3348. They are Linda Olivier, Kristine Turner and Patti Ross.
Perfusionists
A large proportion of the cardiac surgery in children is done on the heart-lung machine (Cardiopulmonary Bypass) and is called open-heart surgery. The heart-lung machine is a complicated device and it requires highly specialized training to operate it. The person running the heart lung machine is known as a perfusionist. There are two perfusionists at Primary Children’s and both have years of expertise in children.
Robert S. Bowers, CCP (Brief resume - PDF)
James
Dale Browning, CCP (Brief resume - PDF)
Cardiac Anesthesiologists
Cardiac anesthesia is different from anesthesia for neurosurgery, orthopedics
and other areas. At Primary Children’s the anesthesiologists have
specialized so they each have expertise in certain unusual areas. Those
currently involved in cardiac
anesthesia (PDF) are listed here.
Pediatric Intensivists
The post-operative care of the child following cardiac surgery requires
special training and expertise. There are 4
Pediatric Intensivists (PDF) involved in your child’s care. They are experienced
in all aspects of pediatric intensive care but have concentrated on post-operative
cardiac care. The Cardiothoracic Surgeons, Cardiologists, Nurse Practitioners
and Intensivists round together each day to provide coordinated care and
numerous aspects of care are reviewed throughout the day.
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Nurses
The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) has nurses who specialize in
post-operative cardiac care. This requires extra training and experience.
Early on after heart surgery, there are usually 2 nurses assigned to each
child; once the child is more stable, there is usually 1 nurse per child.
Occasionally the child is convalescing and there may not be beds on the
inpatient ward available and the nursing requirements are less. The PICU
nurse taking care of your child has the most up-to-date information on
how your child is doing and interacts regularly contact with the pediatric
intensivists, cardiologists, nurse practitioners and the surgeon in order
to provide the best care.
Inpatient Social Workers
A social worker is available for outpatient cardiology and cardiac transplantation.
There are also several social workers involved in the Pediatric ICU and
on the wards. They can be contacted at any time and you should discuss
your needs with a nurse of the unit where your child is before or after
surgery and they will contact the social worker for you.
Operating Room Staff
There is a team of nurses, surgical assistants, technicians and administrative staff that are critical to any successful surgery. At Primary Children’s the staff are specifically trained to assist and take care of children undergoing specific types of surgery, such as heart surgery, and each team works together on a regular basis. This helps improve the efficiency of each operation and leads to better results.
