Since surgeon Willis J. Potts began operating on children with congenital heart defects at Children's Memorial in the 1940s, the Children's Memorial Heart Center, ranked 12th in the nation for heart and heart surgery, has treated virtually every known type of heart problem, including heart failure, and has helped thousands of children and families. In fact, it is the largest pediatric heart center in the area.
Today, the center's team consists of cardiovascular surgeons, cardiologists, nurse practitioners, social workers, technologists, psychologists and others.
One of the most recent innovations being performed by doctors at Children's Memorial combines surgery and arrhythmia treatment in one setting to correct congenital heart disease of patients who had the Fontan procedure. The Fontan procedure was developed in 1968 to treat complex congenital heart defects.
Although the most acute and most technologically advanced care is provided at the hospital's main campus in Chicago, physicians also deliver leading-edge cardiac care at several conveniently located suburban locations.
And since 1993, thanks to the advances of telemedicine, more than 10,000 infants have been diagnosed by our pediatric cardiologists at outlying nurseries, almost all receiving care close to home.
The team's expertise is backed by the vast array of other highly qualified subspecialists who are on hand, many of whom are regarded among the nation's best.