Lexington Medical Center Receives the Nation's Highest Rating in Heart Surgery

For the second consecutive year, Lexington Medical Heart and Vascular Center earned three three-star ratings from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons for aortic valve replacement, coronary artery bypass grafting and isolated mitral valve replacement and repair. Historically, 4 to 7% of database participants in the United States and Canada achieve this prestigious designation, which recognizes quality patient and clinical outcome excellence.

“The Society of Thoracic Surgeons congratulates STS National Database participants who received three-star ratings,” said David M. Shahian, MD, chair of the Task Force on Quality Measurement. “Participation in the Database and public reporting demonstrates a commitment to quality improvement in health care delivery and helps provide patients and their families with meaningful information to help them make informed decisions about health care.”

The STS rating system is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in health care, rating the benchmarked outcomes of cardiothoracic surgery programs across the United States and Canada. STS ranked Lexington Medical Center in the highest quality tier after analyzing the latest data for AVR, CABG and MVRR during a three-year period.

“The mission of Lexington Medical Center has always been to provide high-quality health care that meets the needs of our communities, and our cardiovascular care continues to be recognized at the highest levels, including receiving three stars from STS for coronary artery bypass grafting, aortic valve replacement and mitral valve surgery,” said Jeffrey A. Travis, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon at Lexington Medical Heart and Vascular Center. “This accomplishment underscores a large team that works tirelessly to care for our patients.”

Lexington Medical Center began its complete cardiac care program in 2012 with expectations to perform about 100 open heart surgeries each year. But the program has far exceeded expectations. To date, the hospital has performed more than 4,650 open heart surgeries – an average of nearly 400 surgeries each year.

“The hard work, dedication and collaboration among our entire heart team at Lexington Medical Center continues to be recognized at the highest levels, including receiving three stars from STS for coronary artery bypass grafting, aortic valve replacement and mitral valve surgery,” said Lisa Pittman, RN, MSN, outcomes coordinator in the Center for Quality Outcomes for Lexington Medical Heart and Vascular Center. “It exemplifies our commitment to providing the highest quality care to our communities.”


Lexington Medical Heart and Vascular Center cardiothoracic surgeons Heather M. Currier, MD, FACCP; Jeffrey A. Travis, MD; and William M. Yarbrough, MD

About the STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database

This database is the world’s premier clinical registry for cardiac surgery. It houses approximately 8 million surgical records and currently has more than 3,600 participating physicians, including surgeons and anesthesiologists, representing more than 95% of the groups that perform cardiac surgery in the United States.