Tops in the the Country!

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center’s Cardiovascular Center of Excellence is one of the largest and most experienced programs in the Bay Area. With roots that go back to performing the East Bay’s first open-heart surgery, our Cardiovascular Center of Excellence has earned consistent local and national recognition for its patient care and outcomes.

On September 7, Alta Bates Summit Drs. Junaid Khan and Russell Stanten were named among the top 50 in the country in performing cardiac surgery by Consumer Reports. The report also identified their group as one of only three physician groups in the state to receive top honors with above average outcomes in surgery.

"We’re very proud of our physicians, our surgical team and the outstanding nursing care at Alta Bates Summit," said Leo Dominguez, Assistant Administrator for Professional and Cardiovascular Services. "With our long history of over 40 years of experience in cardiac care, we believe this rating system is a great step in open reporting. It represents a type of collaboration and data sharing that gives patients the transparency they’ve requested. It also improves information about accuracy regarding medical outcomes by looking at the total quality of care, not just mortality data."

More than 1,000 surgical programs in the U.S. perform heart bypass surgery and about 90 percent voluntarily provide performance data to The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult Cardiac Surgery Database. Consumer Reports published ratings of 221 surgical groups that agreed to publicly release data on outcomes.

Experience and excellence in quality care are hallmarks at Alta Bates Summit where more than 6,000 cardiovascular procedures are performed annually (2008 and 2009) making them the largest heart program in the Bay Area. When you need it most, one of the largest and most comprehensive heart care centers is right here in the East Bay.

Congratulations!