Southeast card practice merges with Wellmont Health System

Cardiovascular Associates (CVA), with more than 30 specialists practicing in six area locations, is partnering with Wellmont Health System to serve heart patients in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. The relationship was finalized earlier this month.

Under the agreement, CVA’s physicians have become Wellmont employees and will provide clinical and administrative leadership for the cardiovascular programs at Wellmont’s hospitals.

CVA has managed the cardiac programs at Wellmont hospitals for several years as part of the Wellmont Regional Heartcare Network.

Gerald Blackwell, MD, CVA’s president and chairman of the board, said the new relationship will be “virtually transparent to patients.”

Through this partnership, CVA and Wellmont said they will be better able to proactively ensure that the cardiovascular care network continues to “optimally serve the region despite the pressure of healthcare reform.”

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