Advanced Heart Care Close to Home | Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital

For residents of the Lake Pointe community, advanced heart care isn’t miles away—it’s right here at home. Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital offers specialized cardiovascular services through its outpatient clinic, in collaboration with Baylor Scott & White Medical Center — Lake Pointe. This partnership includes two programs: the Structural Heart Clinic and the Heart Recovery Center.

These established programs reflect Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital’s commitment to bringing high-quality, specialized care closer to the communities it serves.

“What we’ve done is brought our expertise and quality to the Lake Pointe community,” said Dr. Molly Szerlip, the regional medical director of the Structural Heart Program for Baylor Scott & White Health — The Heart Hospital. “This encompasses the entire gamut of structural disease in the heart. Patients are seen by the structural cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons on the Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital — Plano medical staff, and they’ll get all their testing in their own community. This is the best of all worlds.”

Dr. David Rawitscher agreed. He is the medical director of Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital — Plano’s Heart Recovery Service. “We are committed to a heart team approach to patient treatment. Patients admitted to The Heart Hospital — Plano benefit from the expertise of multiple care providers ranging from surgeons to heart rhythm doctors. This is a special arrangement where all patients receive a collaborative approach to care.”

The Heart of the Matter

Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital — Plano is routinely ranked as one of the top heart hospitals in the country. U.S. News & World Report has ranked them 30th Best in America in Cardiology and Heart Surgery and “High Performing” for the following services: abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, aortic valve surgery, heart attack, heart bypass surgery, heart failure, lung cancer surgery, and TAVR.

Currently, Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital  — Plano and The Heart Hospital – Denton perform the most coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgeries combined in the United States and the third-highest number of heart valve surgeries. The outpatient clinic in Lake Pointe only furthers that mission to expand the reach of these and other award-winning cardiovascular services into every community within North Texas. Two specialized services are available at Baylor Scott & White —  Lake Pointe: the Structural Heart Center and the Heart Recovery Center.

The Structural Heart Center treats patients with structural heart conditions, including valvular heart disease. Structural heart conditions can come from many different issues. You can be born with them or develop them as you get older. For instance, calcium can build up on the valves and cause leakiness or a valve blockage. There can be holes in the heart that are from birth or can develop over time. Because of their expertise, the physicians at the Structural Heart Center can offer all kinds of treatments, including minimally invasive surgeries. Dr. Imran Baig, interventional cardiologist on staff at Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital, explains that the center began by offering transcatheter aortic valve replacements (TAVR) — a minimally invasive alternative to open-heart surgery that replaces the aortic valve using a catheter inserted through an artery in the leg or neck.

The Heart Recovery Center, meanwhile, serves patients with advanced heart failure. Patients in this area of care may have weak heart muscles from a virus, prior heart attacks, or other more uncommon forms of heart disease, such as a stiff heart from muscle conditions such as cardiac amyloid or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. They can help patients get newer medications for treating heart failure and help them obtain genetic testing. They will also have access to advanced forms of heart imaging, including cardiac MRI.

A Team Approach

In both programs, doctors work closely with the patient’s primary cardiologist to offer more frequent visits, personalized care, and access to advanced treatments. Their goal is to help them feel better and improve their quality of life. Lake Pointe patients may also be eligible for new medications, advanced heart imaging, and genetic testing to understand the root causes of their condition better. Understanding the nature of structural heart disease is key to early diagnosis and effective treatment.

“Patients receive additional care they may not receive in a typical physician’s office or cardiologist’s office,” Dr. Rawitscher said. “It’s an opportunity for us to see patients regularly and take extra time with them and provide advanced care. We want to help people do their very best and restore a good quality of life.”

“Patients can discuss their unique care needs with their primary care doctors or specialty physicians,” Dr. Szerlip said. “If they want to get a little more in-depth with their condition, they can access us at any of our five structural heart clinics to get either a second opinion or to get further information about a specific condition.”

Dr. Rawitscher agreed, adding, “The best patient is an educated patient. I always tell patients to communicate with their physician, ask their physician questions, and learn everything they can about their disease. They should know their medication and understand their testing and prior procedures.
Open communication is the best way to decide treatment options.”

Physicians provide clinical services as members of the medical staff at Baylor Scott & White Health’s subsidiary, community, or affiliated medical centers and do not provide clinical services as employees or agents of Baylor Scott & White Health or those medical centers.

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CONTACT

Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital Outpatient Services – Rockwall
6705 Heritage Parkway, Suite 201, Rockwall, Texas 75087 | (972) 520-9481