Which North Cal. facility would you recommend for an AVR ?

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plsflgood

Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2011
Messages
24
Location
California
I am in Nothern California. Which of the following facilities (and a surgeon, if possible) would you recomment for an Arterial Valve Replacement ?
Kaiser Santa Clara
Kaiser San Francisco
El Camino Hospital in Mountain View

Sincerely
-Mike
 
I'm having mine done at California Pacific Medical Center by Vincent Gaudiani. He's considered one of the best on the West Coast and also uses Sequoiia. Check out his web site at http://www.pccvs.com/home/. The CPMC heart facility was redone for him to his specifications. El Camino is a great facility as well but am not familar with the surgeons. (probably using Palo Alto Medical Foundation) Stanford is another option. But my cardiologist didn't have great things to say about the doctor to doctor interaction.

Dave
 
plsflgood said:
Let me change the question: what facility in No California would you recommend for an AVR ?
Click to expand...

I can't help you since I live in Nj but did you check the US news national rankings for heart surgery to see i any are close?
I don't know if this helps to narrow things down at all but you could also check the USnews rankings by area here is the link for San Fran metro area (most northern Cal area they list but I dont know how far that is from you) They list over all hospital then mark which hospitals are ranked nationally (gold or high ranking (silver) by specialty http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/area/san-francisco-ca/specialty Of course there are very good centers that dont make the list because they arent as well known, but its a good place to start.

Since your first 2 hospitals you asked about were kaiser, do you have insurance that limits your choices or would cost alot more if you went "out of network"?
 
My cardiologist recommended Dr. Scot Merrick at UCSF in San Francisco. I have my consultation with him on January 6th. I am getting a lot more symptomatic and I am ready to have this taken care of.
 
If you are specifically asking about Kaiser facilities and staff only, I'm not a member and I don't have any relevant information to help you in that choice. Sorry.

If by your second post, you are asking about any facilities and surgeons in Nor CA, I would recommend Craig Miller at Stanford who did my surgery, especially if you have BAV disease. He is more familiar with the issues surrounding BAV, particularly the associated aortic anomalies, than most other cardiac surgeons and is one of the most respected and awarded cardiac surgeons there is, period. Others in the area may have somewhat higher numbers of procedures in a year, but none have superior knowledge and skill. Stanford's level of care and nursing staff expertise was excellent and Stanford is particularly good with complicated cases that require application of advanced technology.
 
I agree with Bill, as I have had all 3 of my AVR surgeries at Stanford, the last 2 using Dr Miller. I came out of all of them with flying colors.
I'm not a fan of Kaiser. My neighbor recently passed away, after having symptoms for many weeks, of aortic dissection, and he had Kaiser.
He was told on Thurs that he was fine and could go back to work, and on Sat he was gone. He was a healthy guy, too. I will always wonder if he would still be with us if he had had another health plan. He went to Santa Clara for one of his many times to the hospital. They gave him blood pressure meds and put him on coumadin!
But, many here have had good luck with Kaiser. I know I would never choose that HMO as my health plan.
My friend from HS told me her hubby had Dr Gaudiani and had good results at Sequoia. That's all I know to recommend.
 
If we are talking about surgeons like Craig Miller from Stanford, or Scot Merrick from UCSF - both of them are working in teaching hospitals, so is there any guarantee that it will be them, and not one of their post-graduate students, who will perform the actual surgery ?
 
plsflgood said:
If we are talking about surgeons like Craig Miller from Stanford, or Scot Merrick from UCSF - both of them are working in teaching hospitals, so is there any guarantee that it will be them, and not one of their post-graduate students, who will perform the actual surgery ?
Click to expand...

That is a good question to ask when you have your pre-op meeting. or meeting to decide who you will let operate on you if you get several opinions. Not only what part of the surgery will they (surgeon you chose) be doing, but what parts will the fellows and residents will be doing, ( opening and closing FWIW is pretty common) and when the fellows are operating will they be supervised.
 
Prior to my surgery with Dr. Miller, I ask the question "will YOU be doing the surgery". He assured me that he would and in my case he said 2 surgeons would actually sew in the valve. He does half, another surgeon on his team did the other half.
 
Both my 2nd & 3rd surgeries were performed by Dr Miller & he was assisted by his Chief surgical resident. My cardio told me that my 3rd surgery was a 2 surgeon job. I am certain Dr Miller only uses the resident he hand picks,so to speak. Well, I'm assuming this. I do know that each time, the chief surgical resident was the one to check on me each day at 7am after my surgery. These are not young guys. I think my last Dr who assisted Dr Miller looked close to 40. I am very confident in Dr Miller & any Dr he chooses to be on his team! I owe my life to him 2 times, now!
 
plsflgood said:
If we are talking about surgeons like Craig Miller from Stanford, or Scot Merrick from UCSF - both of them are working in teaching hospitals, so is there any guarantee that it will be them, and not one of their post-graduate students, who will perform the actual surgery ?
Click to expand...

I was at a teaching hospital too, and my surgeon assured me that he would be throwing every stitch for the repair. I assume that any fellows that were in the OR were assisting in other ways, since I was a bit amazed to realize just how many holes were poked into me that day.
 
Gail in Ca said:
Both my 2nd & 3rd surgeries were performed by Dr Miller & he was assisted by his Chief surgical resident. My cardio told me that my 3rd surgery was a 2 surgeon job. I am certain Dr Miller only uses the resident he hand picks,so to speak. Well, I'm assuming this. I do know that each time, the chief surgical resident was the one to check on me each day at 7am after my surgery. These are not young guys. I think my last Dr who assisted Dr Miller looked close to 40. I am very confident in Dr Miller & any Dr he chooses to be on his team! I owe my life to him 2 times, now!
Click to expand...

You're right they aren't young guys. You figure 4 years premed then med school then and internship. Then to become a heart surgery first you go thru (I believe 4 years ) general surgery and are qualified to be a General surgeon, and often trauma chief.. THEN you can start your cardiothoracic training. Some the fellows have done millions of stitiches and rather big general surgeries and trauma before they get to sew their first chest shut. Its a long haul they are pretty dedicated.
 
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