Why Choose Us

The heart and vascular specialists at Loyola University Health System (Loyola) have earned their reputation for offering a premier program in Chicago and one of the finest in the nation -- and that's just one reason to choose Loyola for care. At Loyola, your care, whether simple or complex, is in the hands of seasoned experts trained in all types of heart and vascular care. The innovative track record of the team speaks for itself with proven patient outcomes and volumes. Here are additional reasons to choose Loyola.

Expertise

Loyola offers the experience and expertise of many of the nation's top heart and vascular specialists in all areas of treatment.

Cardiac catheterization - We perform both cardiac and peripheral diagnostic and therapeutic/interventional procedures on adults and children.
Cardiographics - Loyola provides a comprehensive range of non-invasive cardiac testing.
Cardiovascular/thoracic surgery - Our surgical expertise in the areas of coronary artery bypass graft, valvular heart disease, and heart and lung transplantation is nationally renowned. Loyola cardiovascular surgeons perform robotic surgery for mitral valve repair, coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), and patent foramen ovum (PFO) and atrial septal defect (ASD) closures, among others, offering patients reduced recovery times and less risk of infection.
Electrophysiology - Loyola's heart rhythm specialists (electrophysiologists) are among the nation's leaders in the care of adults and children with heart rhythm disorders (arrhythmias). They are the first in the Chicago area to use a magnetically guided catheter to treat irregular heart beats.
Peripheral vascular – Loyola’s multidisciplinary team of doctors from internal medicine, cardiology, radiology and vascular surgery care for patients with peripheral vascular disease (PVD) and offer a contemporary approach to the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of PVD.
Transplantation - As a major solid organ transplant center in the United States, Loyola has programs that include heart, lung and heart-lung transplantation.

Major Programs and Services

Heart Failure Program - provides aggressive medical management, the latest in medications, technology management, and conventional and leading-edge surgery.
Heart Transplant Program - one of the oldest and most active programs in the United States, with more than 600 transplants performed since March 1984.
Interventional Cardiology - Loyola interventional cardiologists perform nearly 4,500 cardiac catheterizations annually, the most in northern Illinois.
Lung Transplant Program - among the top programs in the United States with more than 500 lung transplants since 1988 and a research focus on antirejection medication.

National/State Leadership

Loyola University Health System is the only Illinois hospital to be named to a list of the nation's top 30 teaching hospitals with cardiovascular residency programs and is among the 2008 Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals®: Cardiovascular Benchmark Award recipients for cardiovascular care for the fourth year. Compared with other hospitals, the 100 Top Hospitals have higher survival rates for heart failure, angioplasty and heart bypass as well as lower rates of such surgical complications as infections and severe bleeding.
Loyola is one of 38 hospitals in the United States and one of two in Illinois to show above-average outcomes for heart failure patients, according to a survey of more than 4,000 hospitals conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (June 2007).
Loyola has top ranked risk-adjusted mortality rate among 606 reporting institutions nationwide for percutaneous coronary interventions, such as angioplasty, according to the American College of Cardiology Foundation National Cardiac Data Registry’s most recent rolling fourth-quarter report (2007). Additionally, Loyola is in the 99th percentile among reporting institutions for treating patients with primary angioplasties within 90 minutes of their arrival in the emergency facility.
Loyola University Health System (LUHS) is now among the 5 percent of health-care organizations with the elite Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). This designation indicates that LUHS represents the highest standards for nursing excellence and quality of care for our patients. At Loyola, these standards create an environment that encourages innovation, embraces diversity, respects life and values human dignity while providing first-rate clinical care, education and research. This comprehensive approach to care affords our patients the best possible outcomes.
Loyola is one of two Chicago-area facilities using LDL apheresis for patients which cleanses low-density lipoproteins (LDL) from a patient's bloodstream without removing proteins, antibody clotting factors and other healthy elements.
Loyola has been recognized by U.S.News & World Report® as a Top 50 Heart Hospital in the United States for seven years in a row.
Loyola has the lowest death rate for heart attack patients among Illinois UHC Academic hospitals and national UHC Academic hospitals.
Patients who have had a heart attack require certain levels of medical care to be provided during hospitalization, including administering medication, opening blocked arteries (angioplasty) and counseling patients about the importance of not smoking. Loyola University Hospital provides these treatments in an excellent and consistent manner, according to University HealthSystem Consortium. Click here to view the chart.
The death rate for patients who undergo coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) at Loyola is consistently at or below the levels predicted by the University HealthSystem Consortium and the Society of Thoracic Surgery. Click here to view the chart.

Pioneering Programs/Procedures

First heart transplant, lung transplant and heart-lung transplant in Illinois.
First in Illinois to staff a Heart Attack Rapid Response Team.
First in Illinois to use mesh umbrellas to close holes in adult hearts.
First in Illinois to use radiofrequency catheter ablation to cure heart rhythm disorders.
First in Chicago area to use a magnetically guided catheter to treat irregular heart beats, coronary artery disease and heart failure.
First in Chicago area to perform an angioplasty with the placement of a drug-eluting stent.
First with wireless implantable cardioverter defibrillator satellite-monitored system.
First in the United States to use 3-D ultrasound to guide ablation.
Among the first to perform minimally invasive cardiac surgery.