CINCINNATI (February 5, 2025) – Physicians from The Christ Hospital Health Network and Cincinnati Children’s are working in collaboration to offer a new adult congenital heart disease clinic (ACHD). The collaboration will result in teams from both systems working to bridge care between pediatric and adult providers for patients with congenital heart disease.
Patients who wish to do so can visit The Christ Hospital Health Network’s structural heart program at its Mt. Auburn campus. Many of these patients have undergone complex heart procedures as children and will need follow-up medical care and procedures later in life.
“Today’s announcement means the number one hospital in Cincinnati for heart health and one of the top ranked children’s hospitals in the country are combining resources to give exceptional care to our patients,” said Santiago Garcia, MD, Director of Structural Heart Program at The Christ Hospital Health Network. “The goal of this program is to provide a seamless transition for patients with adult congenital heart disease as they age into adulthood. Knowing they’ll need lifetime management of their diagnosis and as they get older, many patients look for a new environment in which to receive their needed cardiovascular care.”
Dr. Garcia has been working for two years with Sasha Opotowsky, MD, the medical director of Cincinnati Children’s Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program, to make this clinic a reality for patients in Greater Cincinnati. The pediatric health system’s ACHD program has been an international leader in the treatment of ACHD and has multiple locations in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. It was one of the first centers in the nation to earn accreditation from the Adult Congenital Heart Association (ACHA) as an ACHD Accredited Comprehensive Care Center.
“Those born with a congenital heart defect are living longer thanks to dramatic improvements in care. There is enormous value provided by pediatric specialists who have deep expertise in CHD,” said Dr. Opotowsky. “As a result, our main ACHD clinic is located at Cincinnati Children’s. As children become adults, however, there is an increasing contribution of acquired ‘adult’ conditions like diabetes and coronary disease. Collaborations like this help us meet this growing community where they are and, ultimately, allow us to provide comprehensive, outstanding ACHD care. This collaboration will also provide our patients easy access to the extraordinary strengths of each institution, such as the Women’s Heart Center at The Christ Hospital and the Heart and Mind Wellbeing Center at Cincinnati Children’s.”
Caring for those with CHD requires teams of clinicians with specific expertise in subspecialties integral to providing outstanding adult congenital heart care, such as cardiac imaging, electrophysiology, cardiac surgery, and interventional cardiology. Physician liaisons to the clinic from The Christ Hospital Health Network include cardiologists Andrew Noll, MD, Teresa Ratajczak, MD, and J. Michael Smith, MD (Cardiac Surgery). From Cincinnati Children’s, these include Clayton (Tony) Smith, MD, Shabana Shahanavaz, MD, Shankar Baskar, MD, and David Morales, MD (Cardiac Surgery).
About The Christ Hospital Health Network
The Christ Hospital Health Network consists of an acute care hospital located in Mt. Auburn, a remote hospital location in Liberty Township, five ambulatory outpatient centers and dozens of medical offices throughout the region. For more than 135 years, The Christ Hospital has provided compassionate care to those it serves. Made up for more than 1,300 physicians and 7,200 team members, our mission is to improve the health of our community by providing exceptional outcomes in an affordable way. The Network was recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the #1 hospital in the Cincinnati Region and named to Newsweek’s World’s Best Hospitals list in 2024.