New cardio physician-hospital merger springs up in Midwest

St. Luke's Hospital of Kansas City and North Kansas City Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., are partnering with Mid America Heart and Lung Surgeons (MAHLS), also located in Kansas City, in a new hospital-physician arrangement.

Five MAHLS physicians have provided heart and vascular surgical care at the two hospitals since 2004 as an independent physician practice. Now, they will provide surgical services to patients at St. Luke's Hospital and North Kansas City Hospital through a new physician practice model. As in the past, heart transplant services will continue to be provided only at St. Luke's Hospital.

Physicians in the group include A. Michael Borkon, MD, CEO of MAHLS, Keith B. Allen, MD, Alexander Pak, MD, Richard S. Stuart, MD, and James R. Stewart, MD. One result of the new partnership is the addition of two new surgeons, J. Russell Davis, MD, and Sanjeev Aggarwal, MD, both joining this month. This brings the group up to seven surgeons.

Financial and other business details related to the new agreement will not be disclosed.

Around the web

Several key trends were evident at the Radiological Society of North America 2024 meeting, including new CT and MR technology and evolving adoption of artificial intelligence.

Ron Blankstein, MD, professor of radiology, Harvard Medical School, explains the use of artificial intelligence to detect heart disease in non-cardiac CT exams.

Eleven medical societies have signed on to a consensus statement aimed at standardizing imaging for suspected cardiovascular infections.