Cardiovascular Institute


Cardiac Care

St. Joseph’s Health Cardiovascular Institute Comprehensive Care — Because Every Beat Matters

At the St. Joseph’s Health Cardiovascular Institute, staying on the cutting edge to give you the best possible care is an imperative. Our nationally recognized, multi-specialty teams of caregivers within the institute give you the widest and most-advanced range of diagnostic and treatment options in all of Central New York. From developing the first specialized heart teams in the region to the expansion of our Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery Program, we constantly strive to give more to our community. We’re continually expanding and advancing our services through critical research and clinical trials because our dedication to continued improvement means that being the best isn’t enough — we have to stay the best. When it comes to your cardiovascular care . . . EVERY BEAT MATTERS.

A. John Merola, M.D. Cardiovascular Center of Excellence at St. Joseph’s Health

The A. John Merola, M.D. Cardiovascular Center of Excellence at St. Joseph’s Health is a dedicated space for the integration of services to enhance the patient experience and to provide for the highest quality of efficient care. St. Joseph’s cardiac program is already the most awarded cardiovascular care in the region, with a Cardiac Surgery program that was ranked among the Top 15 in the nation by Consumer Reports.  In addition to a state-of-the-art electrophysiology lab, the Center includes six special procedure rooms, a hybrid operating room, and nearly double the space previously used for these services, the suites in the Center enable our physicians and teams of caregivers to continue to expand and innovate with cutting edge procedures that have been pioneered at St. Joseph’s, like the Trans-catheter Aortic Valve Repair (TAVR) procedure. The A. John Merola Cardiovascular Center of Excellence offers the latest techniques and treatments on an outpatient basis, and is critically important to the health and wellness of CNY residents in particular because heart disease is the 2nd leading cause of early death in our region. The Center is named for A. John Merola, M.D. who has been closely aligned with St. Joseph’s Health for more than 50 years and helped create the family medicine residency program in the 1970s. Dr. Merola was Honorary Chairman for the hospital’s 150th Anniversary Campaign, and has generously donated $3 million contribution toward this project. Click here to learn more.

Nationally Recognized And Always Looking Forward

Every aspect of our cardiovascular services — from our dedicated surgical teams, to our award-winning nursing staff, to our state-of-the-art facilities — continually advances. Our three cardiovascular departments — Cardiology, Cardiac Surgery and Vascular Services — are committed to that philosophy, and they collaborate with other medical and surgical specialties to provide the highest level of patient care, clinical research, education and accessibility to patients with cardiovascular disease.

A Bold, New Air Medical Transport Program

St. Joseph's now offers Care Flight, our new air medical transport program. Care Flight significantly decreases transport time for our patients because, when it comes to heart attacks and critical neurological events such as stroke, every second counts. Care Flight expands our reach, providing the region with high-level critical care during rapid transportations, and our world-class medical team is ready 24/7 — beginning life-saving treatment the moment you arrive.