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Bianca Soler
Vice President, Executive Office & Brand
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HCA Florida Northside Hospital offers minimally invasive procedure
St. Petersburg, Fla. – January 31, 2024 – HCA Florida Northside Hospital is offering a minimally invasive option to open heart surgery for patients needing heart valve surgery. Cardiothoracic surgeon Clarence Owen, M.D., performs this procedure through a very small incision using thoracoscopic visualization, eliminating the need for cutting the breast bone, as is done in traditional heart surgery. This procedure is ideal for patients who need mitral valve repair or replacement. Compared with open heart surgery, this approach often means less pain and a quicker recovery. Additional advantages for patients with the minimally invasive procedure can include:
- Smaller, cosmetically more appealing incisions
- Decreased blood loss
- Decreased pain
- Shorter hospital stays
- Quicker return to normal activity
- Decreased risk for additional surgeries
- Patients prefer it to the more invasive approach
- More natural exposure of the mitral valve
For more information on the structural heart program at HCA Florida Northside Hospital, visit https://www.hcafloridahealthcare.com/locations/northside-hospital/specialties/cardiology/heart-and-vascular-surgery/structural-heart.
Mr. Carroll had mitral valve repair surgery in November 2023. “I have four inch incision under my ribcage on the right side. I have no issues and never felt pain there. My hospital care was phenomenal. I cannot say enough about the nurses and doctors. It was a quick recovery, healing and I was discharged in four days. My breathing is noticeably improved from what it was prior to surgery. I had a friend who had open heart surgery 10 days after me. It has been interesting comparing our recoveries, with my friend in the hospital seven days and I was in for four days.”
Mr. Carroll, is a big outdoorsman and is glad to be back on the water at sunrise.
About HCA Florida Healthcare
HCA Florida Healthcare, a part of HCA Healthcare, is a family of more than 650 affiliated sites of care, including hospitals, physician practices, freestanding emergency rooms and urgent care centers. United as a statewide network in 2022, HCA Florida Healthcare includes approximately 11,000 experienced doctors and more than 79,000 colleagues working together to deliver equitable, evidence-based collaborative care to more than 8.6 million patients each year. HCA Florida Healthcare is committed to improving more lives in more ways and giving back to the communities it serves. The network provides more than $848.8 million in uncompensated care and contributes $2.1 million to community organizations across the state. In addition, HCA Florida Healthcare offers patients access to highly-trained specialists, including the state’s largest cardiovascular network. A strong advocate for the next generation of healthcare professionals, HCA Florida Healthcare is also a major supporter of university-based healthcare programs and residencies and fellowships throughout the Sunshine State. For more information, please visit HCAFloridaHealthcare.com.
Carrie JohnsonDirector
Communications & Community Engagement
HCA Florida Northside Hospital
6000 49th Street North, St. Petersburg, FL 33709
P 727.521.5265 | M 727.742.4140
