Pioneering heart surgeon joins the Saint Alphonsus Cardiology Team
By Shannon Weidemann (McKone) on Monday, March 1st, 2021 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories
OREGON/IDAHO – Dr. Robert Saeid Farivar MD, PhD, the first heart surgeon in the United States to perform a Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement (TMVR) procedure, has been named Medical Director at the Saint Alphonsus Heart Institute in Boise.
Dr. Farivar comes from Florida, where he was Medical Director of Cardiovascular Surgery at HCA East Florida Division. He has also served as Chairman of Cardiac Surgery at Allina Health and Chief of Cardiac Surgery at the Minneapolis Heart Institute, and he was Chief of Cardiac Surgery for Penn Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania Health System. His career has also taken him to surgical and leadership positions at the University of Iowa Health Care in Iowa City.
“Dr. Farivar is a pioneer in cardiovascular surgery and a dynamic and highly skilled surgeon, who will lead our heart surgery team to achieve exciting innovations in heart care. I’m so pleased that he has joined the Saint Alphonsus Heart Institute and our team of outstanding cardiovascular surgeons and cardiologists,” said Odette Bolano, President and CEO of the Saint Alphonsus Health System.
A graduate of Yale University, where he earned a BA in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Dr. Farivar was awarded his MD and PhD in Pathology from the Boston University School of Medicine. He was a research fellow in Cardiac Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and served residencies in general surgery and Thoracic Surgery at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
The Saint Alphonsus Heart Institute, based in Boise, serves patients in Idaho and Eastern Oregon, specializing in atrial fibrillation (AFib), stereotaxis robotic magnetic navigation, minimally invasive heart valve surgery, and the only Women’s Heart program in Idaho. US News and World Report’s annual 2020-21 hospital rankings named Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center as a Platinum Award Recipient for treating Chest Pain- MI (myocardial infarction), or a heart attack. SARMC is a designated Level 1 STEMI Center by the Idaho Time Sensitive Emergency System and the only American College of Cardiology Accredited Chest Pain Center with Primary PCI and Resuscitation in Idaho.
About Saint Alphonsus Health System
As a faith-based Catholic ministry and not-for-profit health system, Saint Alphonsus Health System reinvests in the communities we serve, through charity care and other benefits. Our goal is to improve the health and well-being of people by emphasizing care that is patient-centered, physician-led, innovative and community-based. Saint Alphonsus Health System serves the people of southwestern Idaho, eastern Oregon and northern Nevada through these facilities: Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center – Boise, ID; Saint Alphonsus Regional Rehabilitation Hospital – Boise, ID, a joint venture with Encompass Health; Saint Alphonsus Medical Center – Nampa, ID; Saint Alphonsus Medical Center – Ontario, OR; Saint Alphonsus Medical Center – Baker City, OR; and Saint Alphonsus Medical Group with primary and specialty care providers at over 70 clinic locations, all of which are members of the Saint Alphonsus Health Alliance, a network of over 2100 employed and independent providers. Saint Alphonsus is a proud member of Trinity Health, one of the largest multi-institutional Catholic health care delivery systems in the nation. Trinity Health serves people and communities in 22 states from coast to coast with 94 hospitals and 122 continuing care facilities, home health and hospice programs, and PACE center locations. To find out more go to: www.saintalphonsus.org
