This January, Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford announced it had completed its 500th cardiac surgery case.
“We are always proud of the services we provide to our patients, and this is a testament to our associates and physicians that provide this life-saving surgery,” said Gordon B. Ferguson, the hospital’s president and Chief Executive Officer.
Physicians and staff who have helped build the cardiac surgery program at the Murfreesboro hospital will join together this week to celebrate this achievement and honor those who have been instrumental in ensuring that residents in Rutherford County and several neighboring counties have access to the cardiac surgeries.
“I’m honored to be part of a system that offers this level of care locally,” said Dr. Aaron Hoffman, Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford cardiovascular surgeon. “Heart surgery isn’t something anyone wants to go through, but if we can make it easier for people by keeping them closer to home and to family, then that’s a wonderful advantage for our patients. It allows us to make a stressful time less stressful.”
Ascension Saint Thomas invested more than $5.6 million in its Rutherford hospital to establish the open heart surgery program in April 2023.
“Cardiovascular surgeries revolutionized and progressed all aspects of cardiovascular services here in Rutherford and the surrounding areas,” Hoffman said. “It made available more options for patients without having to be transferred out of Rutherford County. In cases where surgery is the best or sometimes the only option, then patients can now have surgery without the burden being further from home.”
