Mon General to name Center for Cardiac Care in Dr. Warren T. Anderson’s honor

            Mon General Hospital will be naming its Center for Cardiac Care in honor of Warren T. Anderson, MD, during a dedication ceremony on Tuesday, May 14. More than $500,000 was raised in Dr. Anderson’s name by The Foundation of Mon General in support of the center.

            The dedication ceremony will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the Mon General Hospital Main Lobby.  A program will take place at 6 p.m., followed by tours of the newly named Center for Cardiac Care immediately following.

             Dr. Anderson retired from Morgantown Internal Medicine Group in September 2012 after a nearly 40 year career as a Cardiologist in the Morgantown area. Among the speakers at the event will be two well-known cardio-thoracic surgeons, Gordon F. Murray, MD and Jose Cruzzavala, MD, who, along with Dr. Anderson, helped establish the open heart surgery program at Mon General Hospital, initially a joint program with WVU Hospitals.

            Gordon F. Murray, M.D., is Professor Emeritus of Surgery at West Virginia University, and former Chair of the WVU Department of Surgery, Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Director of the Thoracic Surgery Residency Program and Chief of Surgical Services. Dr. Murray was president of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) from 2009-10. In 2006, Dr. Murray received the STS Distinguished Service Award, one of the society’s highest honors.

            Dr. Cruzzavala is board certified in both general surgery and thoracic surgery. He previously practiced at both Mon General Hospital and WVU Hospitals and is currently practicing at Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital in Parkersburg.

            Also speaking at the event will be West Virginia State Senator Roman Prezioso.

            “It is only fitting that we name our Center for Cardiac Care in Dr. Anderson’s honor, in recognition of his contributions to the field of cardiology,” said Mon Health System President and CEO Darryl Duncan.  “Until Dr. Anderson first began practicing at Mon General Hospital in 1977, there had been no cardiology program at the hospital.

            “From the time he joined the hospital staff, until the day he retired, Dr. Anderson was instrumental  in building the cardiac program at Mon General,” Duncan said. “Thanks to his efforts, today Mon General now offers cardiac services, from diagnosis all the way through post-surgical care. Our catheterization lab is the busiest in north central West Virginia and Mon General has become a regional referral center for open heart surgery.

            “Dr. Anderson’s efforts have led to patients in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Ohio choosing Mon General for life-saving cardiac care, close to home,” Duncan said. “His vision has served as the catalyst for the full continuum of cardiac services now available at Mon General.”

            Dr. Anderson created a new beginning for area cardiac patients in 1977 when he requested a treadmill and an echocardiography machine, which in essence started the cardiac care program at Mon General. In 1979, the first cardiac catheterization was performed at the hospital when coronary arteriogram equipment was added to a regular radiology room.

            After a complete cardiac catheterization laboratory was added in 1986, it became clear to Dr. Anderson that Mon General needed to add cardiac surgery to its services. After a meeting with WVU Hospitals, a joint cardiac surgery program was agreed upon and Dr. Murray was recruited to become chairman of the combined program. The first cardiac surgery at Mon General was performed on April 12, 1988.

            The combined program was restructured in 2009 and Mon General now has its own cardiac surgery team, staffed by two full-time cardiac surgeons.

            “Through his efforts to recruit quality physicians to Mon General, Dr. Anderson has ensured that the tradition of excellence in cardiac care he established will continue for the patients the hospital proudly serves well into the future,” according to a plaque to be unveiled at the dedication. “Today, the program Dr. Anderson created from humble beginnings with a dream of a regional center of excellence is a reality. Mon General has grown to become the highest volume cardiac catheterization, electrophysiology, and open heart surgery program in the region, known for excellent patient outcomes, high patient satisfaction, and warm friendly surroundings.”

            In support of naming the Center for Cardiac Care after Dr. Anderson, The Foundation of Mon General has been accepting donations in his honor. A grateful patient and generous anonymous donor has pledged to match gifts, dollar for dollar, up to $1,000,000, for donating to the Warren T. Anderson, MD Center for Cardiac Care as part of The Foundation’s capital campaign.

            For more information on donating, please contact The Foundation of Mon General at (304) 598-1208 or email HennesseyB@monhealthsys.org.