Geetha Bhat, PhD, MD, FACC, FAST, FHFSA, is the medical director of The Christ Hospital Heart Transplant Program in Cincinnati, Ohio with specialized expertise in advanced heart failure, mechanical circulatory support, and heart transplant. Prior to joining The Christ Hospital, Dr. Bhat established several nationally recognized and highly successful heart transplant programs.
In establishing the Heart Transplant Program at The Christ Hospital, Dr. Bhat says the team of heart failure specialists had already built an incredible foundation of cardiovascular care with heart transplant being the next logical step to provide patients in Greater Cincinnati with comprehensive cardiovascular care without the need to leave the region for advanced, specialized care.
“You need highly successful heart failure and advanced heart failure programs, as well as mechanical circulatory support device services,” Dr. Bhat says. “These are clearly well-established at The Christ Hospital —including complex surgeries, ablation procedures, and mechanical left ventricular assist device (LVAD) support.”
Joining The Christ Hospital Heart & Vascular Institute is a homecoming for Dr. Bhat whose early medical career has roots in the Queen City. She completed medical school and her cardiology fellowship at the University of Cincinnati and her internal medicine residency right here at The Christ Hospital.
In the 1990s, Dr. Bhat was instrumental in reorganizing the cardiac transplantation program at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. She later launched cardiac transplant programs with the University of Louisville and Advocate Christ Medical Center in Chicago.
Dr. Bhat is board certified in cardiovascular disease and advanced heart failure / transplant cardiology. She is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the American Society of Transplantation, and the Heart Failure Society of America. She is also a member of the American Heart Association, the American Society of Transplantation, and the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation.
Dr. Bhat’s clinical research in heart failure, cardiac transplantation and mechanical circulatory support has been published in a wide range of respected medical journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Circulation, the Journal of Nuclear Medicine, American Heart Journal, and the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation.
Outside of medicine, Dr. Bhat enjoys exercise, reading, and listening to classical music. She also enjoys volunteering with service organizations to reduce global health disparities.