Fresno Heart & Surgical Hospital has received top ratings again for bariatric surgery. HealthGrades, a national health care ratings organization, ranked the hospital third in the state for its patient outcomes and for the second year in a row gave it a 5-star rating, plus a Bariatric Surgery Excellence Award.
Cardiac surgeon Peter Birnbaum hopes to spark an interest in medicine with hands on experience, letting students poke and prod a real heart. For the past few years he’s brought in his staff from Fresno Heart & Surgical Hospital and several fresh cow hearts to Clovis West High School in Fresno to give anatomy lessons.
Daryle Lamonica, quarterback for the Oakland Raiders during the late 60s and early 70s, knows the value of a great team. And he’s grateful for the top-notch team at Fresno Heart & Surgical Hospital who took care of him when he had quadruple heart bypass surgery in mid-May.
The severe stomach pain plaguing Shela Mangasarian kept her from living the active lifestyle she loved. Six years ago, she dropped 118 pounds with the help of Dr. Kelvin Higa, vascular surgeon and director of Fresno Heart & Surgical Hospital’s bariatric program. He performed Mangasarian’s bariatric (weight loss) surgery in 2006.
Increasingly, countries with government-run health care or a more socialized medical system are recognizing bariatric surgery is a cost-effective treatment that improves lives and longevity, said Dr. Kelvin Higa, director of Fresno Heart & Surgical Hospital’s bariatric program and a frequent lecturer internationally.