AHN Jefferson Hospital gets coronary surgery honor

It received a three-star designation from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

AHN Jefferson Hospital in Jefferson Hills has been given a three-star designation for its aortic valve replacement with coronary artery bypass graft surgery from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

AHN Allegheny General Hospital was also recognized among the nation’s top adult cardiac surgery programs and AHN Forbes Hospital in Monroeville was recognized for isolated coronary artery bypass graft surgery by STS.

Earlier this year, AHN Allegheny General Hospital was named one of America’s 50 best hospitals for cardiac surgery and one of the country’s top 100 for cardiac care and coronary intervention by Healthgrades Specialty Excellence Care awards.

All three AHN surgical programs received a three-star designation in the new STS “multiprocedural” category. This comprehensive evaluation assesses morbidity and mortality rates for patients across all analyzed procedures, adjusting for patient risk factors.

“We couldn’t be more proud of the incredible showing across all of our cardiac surgery programs – we’re thrilled with our consistent performance which places our cardiac surgery program among the most elite nationwide,” said Dr. Stephen Bailey, chair of AHN Cardiovascular Institute. “They are a testament to our clinical teams’ unwavering dedication to maintaining exceptional patient outcomes through evidence-based therapies and innovative medicine.”

The STS analysis for this reporting period (July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2025) included data from 941 STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database participants across the United States and Canada.

Less than 5% of participants eligible for inclusion in the star ratings analyses earned a three-star rating for isolated aortic valve replacement, AVR with coronary bypass or mitral valve with coronary bypass.

Founded in 1964, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons is a not-for-profit organization representing more than 7,800 cardiothoracic surgeons, researchers and allied healthcare professionals worldwide.

The Society’s mission is to enhance the ability of cardiothoracic surgeons to provide the highest quality patient care through education, research and advocacy.

A strength of the AHN cardiac surgery program, according to Bailey, is that everyone involved works really well together. While Allegheny General Hospital is a hub for high-risk and complex cases, the team at AGH has learned from Jefferson Hospital’s team.

“We have been really pleased with having those care processes recognize us as really elite level care with the STS three-star resignations,” Bailey said. “It requires people and a program that are really dedicated to quality improvement and achieving best in class outcomes but it’s not just us surgeons. It’s the whole team. It’s the nurses, the perfusionists, anesthesiologists, the clinical care team, all working together to provide great care, and it starts with the surgical team.”

Bailey added that patients do better objectively, statistically, significantly than other programs in the country because of this ranking, and they are thrilled at Jefferson Hospital to receive the designation from STS.

Aortic valve replacement with coronary artery bypass graft surgery at Jefferson is a combined open-heart procedure used to treat patients with both severe aortic valve disease and blocked heart arteries, and according to Bailey, who has been at AHN for 20 years, it is a really important condition to care of because if it’s left alone, it can be deadly.

“It’s a big deal. It’s open heart surgery, and patients do exceptionally well at Jefferson Hospital,” he added. “Great outcomes, and that’s what you are looking for, right? You have a problem, you go to the hospital, you get the procedure done, you go home and you don’t have any issues. You get on with life, and you are feeling better. So they do a great job of that.”

Aortic valve replacement is basically when patients have a bad calcified aortic valve. Doctors do heart surgery, put the patient on the heart line machine, remove the old valve and put in a new valve, according to Bailey, and it becomes increasingly common as people get older.

Two main groups of patients include heart issues in older people, which is about 8% to 10% of the population, according to Bailey. There are also patients who are born with two leaflets in their heart instead of three, which is abnormal and shows up around the age of 40 to 50.

According to Bailey, if patients are short of breath with exertion or increased exercise tolerance, aortic valve defects are one thing that can be causing those symptoms.

The surgeons involved in the department at Jefferson Hospital include brothers Dr. Kyung S. Park and Dr. Chong Park along with Dr. Mitsuko Takahashi. There are also 120 surgeons in the department across AHN along with thousands of other nurses and physicians.

Overall, Bailey said at Jefferson Hospital, there is a great team, great program and great outcomes that are validated by STS.

“(This is, in) many ways of which AHN is trying to provide great care to patients at the highest level in their community, in the community around Jefferson Hospital,” Bailey said. “That means a lot where you don’t always have to travel into Pittsburgh for a big operation, so we are really proud of that and proud of the designation for Jefferson and the rest of the hospitals at AHN.”