Posted by Ed Wehan on January 06, 2003 at 23:04:50:
In Reply to: Will the local community hospital be ok for my Maze? posted by Henry Alken on January 05, 2003 at 16:32:03:
There are several good posts here and I agree with all of them. Yours was well put, Henry and I so agree with you. I flew from Ventura, CA to Cleveland just to have Dr. McCarthy and CC, a hospital that had some of the best mortality/morbidity statistics of anyone anywhere. I have a gripe with many (most) cardiologists who somehow feel that they know it all. Most are not on top of the latest findings as it's too much work or the patient base is too small to worry about. Even now, I run into these guys who try to argue with me on treating AFib and whose treatment options ultimately will hurt their patient more than help. I guess the answer is you have to do your homework and find out where the best place is and go for it (if your insurance company will let you). As most research shows, those hospitals and those doctors who do the most surgeries are the ones where you will be safest and get the best results. Numbers count.