Cardiothoracic Surgery in Tulare County
Kaweah Health has joined forces with Cleveland Clinic's Heart & Vascular Institute, a nationally ranked heart program, in an effort to help further elevate services for people seeking cardiovascular care in the Central Valley.
Learn more about our new affiliation with the Cleveland Clinic, click HERE.
Trust Your Cardiothoracic Surgery to the Experts at Kaweah Health
Led by one of the area’s most accomplished and celebrated cardiothoracic surgeons, Kaweah Health’s cardiothoracic care team has performed more than 7,900 open-heart surgeries. Our program is focused on improving the quality of life for our heart patients. The teams of cardiac surgeons, cardiologists, vascular surgeons, nurses, perfusionists and cardiac technicians work together to give you a complete continuum of care that will give you the best possible outcome.
The Team to Trust with Your Heart Care
The cardiothoracic teams who partner with Kaweah Health provide award-winning cardiothoracic care without you having to travel so far from home. You can trust your heart surgery specialists because our teams work together to provide patients with integrated and proven methods that result in successful outcomes. We provide many types of heart surgeries, including:
- Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery —While open-heart surgery requires an 8-10-inch incision, a surgeon performing minimally invasive heart valve surgery can use incisions half the size to replace or repair malfunctioning valves or restore normal function to a person’s heart.
- Open-Heart Surgery — More than a million heart surgeries take place in the U.S. each year to correct heart problems. In California, Kaweah Health has one of the highest open-heart surgery volumes in the state.
- Heart Valve Surgery — Two common problems caused by valve disease are narrowing of the valve opening and leaking of a valve. When a valve narrows or leaks, blood flow is restricted. This puts strain on the heart and can lead to heart failure and irregular heart rhythms.
- Septal Defects — Atrial septal defects or ventricular septal defects are basically holes in the heart, either in the septum or the ventricle. They allow blood to backflow to parts of the heart and lungs where it shouldn’t. The surgeons who partner with Kaweah Health surgically repair the damage with sutures or by patching the hole.
- Maze Procedure — The maze procedure is a surgical treatment that stops an irregular heartbeat, lowering the risk of blood clots or stroke.
- Thoracic Surgery — Kaweah Health’s thoracic surgery program provides Central Valley residents with specialized surgical treatment of organs in the chest. Thoracic surgery can treat diseased or injured organs in the thorax, including: the esophagus, the trachea, membranes that protect a person’s lungs, the area that separates their lungs, and their chest wall, diaphragm, heart and lungs.
In Visalia, Kaweah Health’s dedicated heart team partners with local cardiologist and cardiac surgeons to provide cardiothoracic care for patients from Visalia, Hanford, Tulare, Porterville, Fresno, Bakersfield and surrounding areas.
Our Cardiothoracic Team
Nationally recognized for excellence in heart surgery, we work together with local cardiothoracic surgeons to provide comprehensive cardiac and thoracic (chest and lung) surgery at Kaweah Health Medical Center. Through this partnership, patients from throughout the Central Valley are able to receive high-quality surgical care with their very personal touch.
Our Provider
- Frederick W. Mayer, M.D. - Board Certified Thoracic & Cardiac Surgeon
- Michael K. McLean, M.D. - Board Certified Cardiothoracic Surgeon
Kaweah Health Cardiothoracic Surgery Clinic
505 West Main Street, Visalia, CA
Phone: (559) 627-8600
Fax: (559) 627-8605
