GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Anniversaries are a time to look back and a time to celebrate.
The Fred & Lena Meijer Heart Center turns 20 in November and Corewell Health is doing just that.
On December 4, the healthcare facility will host a celebratory event, looking back at all the milestones— like bringing state-of-the-art care to West Michigan.
"People don't have to travel for their cardiovascular care. I mean, whether they need a major prevention program for primary prevention, you know, at one end of the spectrum to advance therapies like ventricular assist devices or trans heart transplants or lung transplants, we've got that all right here in Grand Rapids," says David Wohns, the center's Division Chief for Cardiovascular Medicine.
IN A HEARTBEAT -
The impact of the Fred & Lena Meijer Heart Center on cardiovascular care in West Michigan
- 1958: West Michigan’s first open-heart surgery
- 1969: West Michigan’s first coronary artery bypass
- 1980: West Michigan’s first balloon angioplasty
- 1989: West Michigan’s first implanted defibrillator
- 2003: Among first in the state to introduce drug-eluting stents
- 2004: State’s first accredited 24/7 chest pain center
- 2004: One of the first in the nation equipped with 3-D X-ray equipment for three-dimensional cardiovascular imaging
- 2004: Fred and Lena Meijer Heart Center opens its doors
- 2005: West Michigan’s first prosthetic endovascular thoracic aneurysm graft procedure (repairs aneurysms of the aorta in the chest)
- 2006: West Michigan’s first cardiovascular genetics program
- 2008: First surgeons in West Michigan to repair defective heart valves robotically
- 2008: West Michigan’s first Impella miniature heart pump introduced in high-risk angioplasties
- 2009: Stereotaxis magnetic catheter navigation introduced
- 2009: West Michigan’s first ventricular assist devices (VADs) implanted for heart failure patients as a planned “bridge” to heart transplant
- 2010: The Frederik Meijer Heart & Vascular Institute is formed with cardiologist Richard McNamara, M.D., and cardiothoracic surgeon Lawrence Patzelt, M.D., leading its development as co-medical directors
- 2010 Richard DeVos Heart & Lung Transplant Program is formed
- 2010: West Michigan’s first heart transplant performed by international cardiac surgeon, Asghar Khaghani, M.D.
- 2011: First in Michigan to implant MRI-safe pacemaker in Michigan, allowing patients with a pacemaker to undergo safe MRI scans
- 2011: Second institution in the U.S. accredited by Accreditation for Cardiovascular Excellence for percutaneous coronary intervention
- 2013: First lung transplant and first combined heart-lung transplant
- 2013: First in West Michigan to perform Lariat procedure, minimally invasive technique to tie off a left atrial appendage, which can be a source of blood clots leading to stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AFib)
- 2014: Richard DeVos Cardiovascular Research Program is formed as a collaboration with Van Andel Research Institute to bring world-renowned cardiovascular researcher and cardiologist Stefan Jovinge M.D., Ph.D., to Grand Rapids
- 2014: Richard McNamara Cardiovascular Fellowship Program is established
- 2017: Corewell Health Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Program designated a national Center of Excellence by the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association (HCMA)
- 2018: Surgeons complete milestone 100th lung and 100th heart transplants
- 2018: Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital receives accreditation from the Adult Congenital Heart Association (ACHA)
- 2020: Ryan Madder, M.D., performs the first-ever cross-country simulated telerobotic procedure
- 2021: Cardiac MRI Suite with Siemens 1.5 Tesla Sola magnet opens on first floor of Meijer Heart Center, providing full spectrum of advanced cardiac imaging
- 2022: Adult lung transplant one-year patient survival is the best in the nation
- 2022: Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital pediatric heart transplant program recognized as active by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)
- 2022: Edward Murphy, M.D., conducts 300th lung transplant
- 2023: New Intensive Care Unit opens on eighth floor of Meijer Heart Center
- 2024: Corewell Health is the first health system in the Midwest to use pulsed electric fields to address atrial fibrillation in procedure at Meijer Heart Center
The celebration will include videos, remembrances, and remarks from the community built of cardiovascular caregivers and patients alike.
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