Doctor performs 500th open heart surgery at CTRHC

Todd Chapman, MD, FACS recently performed his 500th open heart surgery at the Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center (CTRMC), just three years after the program began in Carson City.

Before 2006, patients were forced to travel at least to Reno for heart surgery.

Dr. Chapman credits the cardiology surgical staff's teamwork as instrumental in making this great achievement possible.

"Heart surgery is more complicated than some other surgery types, and it is less forgiving in terms of time," he says. "In some respects there is an unspoken communication between us that makes us an efficient, effective team."

Dr. Chapman is a board certified cardiothoracic surgeon with more than 20 years of experience and the chief of cardiac surgery for CTRMC.

Chapman served a fellowship at the prestigious Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and later at the clinic's Scottsdale, Ariz., branch. He is a longtime partner in the Nevada Heart Surgeons group and is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine.

Dr. Chapman is supported by two cardiovascular surgical suites at Carson Tahoe and a CardioONE Program. The CardioONE Program is the only universal bed cardiac program in Nevada. With CardioONE, patients remain in the same room during recovery and are cared for by the same medical staff throughout the recovery process.

To learn more about the CardioOne Open Heart Surgery Program at Carson Tahoe, go to www.carsontahoe.com.