Texas Heart^® Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital
Announces New Chief for New Treatment Program

HOUSTON (October 4, 2006)—Pediatric cardiovascular surgeon Charles D. Fraser, Jr., M.D., has been appointed Chief of the new Adult Congenital Heart Surgery program of the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital. The new program focuses on the special needs of adults who were born with congenital heart problems. Dr. Fraser, who is chief of Cardiac Surgery and chief of the Division of Congenital Heart Surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital, is a foremost authority on congenital heart disease and treatment. Texas Children’s Hospital is the third-ranked cardiac program in the country for pediatric patients, as ranked by Child magazine.

The advances we’ve seen in cardiovascular medicine over the last 60 years have led to the need for this new program. We’re very fortunate to have Dr. Fraser’s expertise and leadership in this highly specialized area of medicine,” said Denton Cooley, M.D., president and surgeon-in-chief of the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital.

The Texas Heart Institute and Texas Children’s Hospital have a very long and productive relationship concerning congenital heart patients. Of course, this started in the 1950s when Dr. Cooley began performing cardiac surgery on infants. This new program is a natural evolution of that longstanding relationship,” said Dr. Fraser.

Dr. Fraser says it’s estimated that there are one million adult congenital heart patients in the U.S. and that number is expected to grow every year.

“As they become adults, patients with congenital heart disease don’t fit well in the pediatric world and historically adult cardiologists are not attuned to the special needs of these patients. We wanted to put together a ‘dream team’ of specialists who understand the unique challenges encountered in these patients,” said Dr. Fraser.

"Texas Heart Institute physicians have worked closely with doctors at Texas Children’s Hospital and the Baylor College of Medicine to develop this program. It’s an exciting step in the Texas Medical Center to have these specialists collaborate to serve the needs of this special patient population,” said James Willerson, M.D., medical director and president-elect of the Texas Heart Institute.

Dr. Fraser says he sees patients of all ages with a wide variety of cardiac health issues.

“Some have been followed since birth with multiple surgeries or catheterization procedures and need ongoing care. Others come in for their first treatment as adults.The oldest patients are well into their fifties,” said Dr. Fraser.

Two physicians, Wayne Franklin, M.D. and John Jefferies, M.D., recently completed Fellowships in the combined program in pediatric cardiology and adult cardiovascular disease at the Texas Heart Institute.

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Texas Heart Institute, founded by world-renowned cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Denton A. Cooley in 1962, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the devastating toll of cardiovascular disease through innovative and progressive programs in research, education and improved patient care. Together with its clinical partner, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, it has been ranked among the top ten cardiovascular centers in the United States by U.S. News & World Report’s annual guide to “America’s Best Hospitals” for the past 16 years. The Texas Heart Institute is also affiliated with the University of Texas (UT) System, which promotes collaboration in cardiovascular research and education among UT and THI faculty at the Texas Heart Institute and other UT components. For more information about the Institute, please visit www.texasheart.org.

St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System comprises the flagship St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in the Texas Medical Center, founded in 1954 by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas; St. Luke’s Community Medical Center–The Woodlands, opened in 2003; St. Luke’s Episcopal Health Charities, a charity devoted to assessing and enhancing community health, especially among the underserved; and Kelsey-Seybold Management, LLP, overseeing 21 area clinic locations. St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital is home to the Texas Heart® Institute, founded in 1962 by Denton A. Cooley, MD, and is consistently ranked among the top 10 cardiology and heart surgery centers in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Affiliated with several nursing schools and two medical schools, St. Luke’s serves as the primary adult teaching hospital for Baylor College of Medicine. St. Luke’s was the first hospital in Texas named a Magnet hospital for nursing excellence, and the Health System has been recognized by FORTUNE as among “100 Best Companies to Work For” (2002, 2004 and 2005) and by Houston Business Journal as a top employer in Houston for three consecutive years. For more information about St. Luke’s, please visit www.stlukestexas.com.