Officials of Shannon Medical Center and Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons of Austin gathered Tuesday at a press conference to announce they have formed a partnership. They are (from left) Dr. Charles Marsh, Dr: John D. Oswalt, Dr. Staton L. Awtrey, Shannon Medical Center CEO Lawrence Leonard, Dr. Gene Sherrod and Shannon Health System CEO Dan Stultz.
Touting state-of-the-art technology and procedures, officials from Shannon Health System joined Tuesday with Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons of Austin to announce a partnership that should benefit cardiac patients around the Concho Valley.
"It's a real pleasure for the hospital and for the doctors and nurses, but the real benefactors of this partnership will be the patients," said Gene Sherrod, M.D., medical director for Shannon Regional Heart Center.
"We now have available here things that were only available in metropolitan areas."
With the partnership, Sherrod said, the need for travel will be reduced and recovery times will be shorter.
Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons of Austin (CTVS) is a 17-surgeon group that has been in operation for more than 40 years. The group's physicians have performed many firsts in Central Texas, including performing the region's first open heart surgery (1961), first coronary artery bypass graft (1968), first heart transplant (1986), first videoassisted thoracic surgery (1991) and first off-pump coronary artery bypass graft (1999).
As part of the partnership, CTVS has opened a local office at 133 W. Concho St., Suite 106. Staton L. Awtrey, M.D., is a cardiothoracic surgeon and will work out of that office full-time to provide care locally.
"Our goal will be to provide the newest and best cardiac surgery and thoracic surgery services available right here in San Angelo," Awtrey said.
Procedures now available include off-pump coronary artery bypass graft, a procedure in which the heart is not stopped for surgery. And with the shared expertise of the group, CTVS physicians can perform very complicated heart surgery — often in San Angelo so patients don't have to travel.
Although open-heart procedures were performed in San Angelo prior to CTVS coming in, now those same services will be enhanced, Awtrey said.
"Patients will get out of surgery quicker, out of the ICU quicker and get home sooner," he said.
Sherrod agreed. "These will be advances on the same operations we've done for years," he said. "Not just different operations."
Another benefit of the partnership is that there will be 16 other surgeons to back up Awtrey should he need time off for continuing education or even personal time, said Charles Marsh, M.D., of the Shannon Regional Heart Center.
"With the setup we have now, we never lose that cutting edge," Marsh said.
Awtrey is a native of Corsicana. He earned his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. He completed his residency in general surgery at the University of Arizona School of Medicine in Tucson and then completed his residency in cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia.
Awtrey practiced in Charleston, W. Va., for four years prior to joining CTVS earlier this year.
He is a diplomate of the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, and he specializes in adult cardiac and thoracic surgery.
Patients wishing to see Awtrey should seek referral from their family physicians or cardiologists. He is on staff at both Shannon Medical Center and San Angelo Community Medical Center.
Officials of Shannon Medical Center and Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons of Austin gathered Tuesday at a press conference to announce they have formed a partnership. They are (from left) Dr. Charles Marsh, Dr: John D. Oswalt, Dr. Staton L. Awtrey, Shannon Medical Center CEO Lawrence Leonard, Dr. Gene Sherrod and Shannon Health System CEO Dan Stultz.