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Robert F. Tranbaugh, M.D., recently joined New York Methodist Hospital (NYM) as chairman of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery. Prior to his appointment at NYM, Dr. Tranbaugh served for almost 25 years as chief of the Division of Cardiac Surgery at Mount Sinai Beth Israel (formerly Beth Israel Medical Center). There, he established himself as an exemplary leader, an outstanding surgeon, and a pioneer of new techniques for the treatment of heart disease.

Robert Tranbaugh, M.D., has joined New York Methodist Hospital as chairman of cardiothoracic surgery.

As New York Methodist Hospital's chairman of cardiothoracic surgery, Dr. Tranbaugh now leads a Department of almost 60 attending physicians, cardiac nurses, physician assistants, perfusionists, and other NYM staff members. In addition to his clinical duties on New York Methodist's cardiothoracic surgery team, Dr. Tranbaugh will take a lead role in the expansion of NYM's cardiac services.

"This Hospital prides itself not only in its ability to offer cutting-edge cardiac care, but also on our record of outstanding patient outcomes," said Mark J. Mundy, president and CEO of NYM. "Dr. Tranbaugh has a world-class track record in both of these areas, and we are thrilled to have him on board." One of Dr. Tranbaugh's primary areas of interest has been the improvement of coronary artery bypass grafting procedures (CABG, commonly referred to as "bypass surgery") by pioneering a revolutionary approach—called radial artery grafting—which has been shown to offer significantly improved long-term outcomes. "Instead of using a segment of a vein in the leg for bypassing a blocked artery in multiple bypass surgery, we have found that using an artery from the arm, called the radial artery, can reduce the risk by half that a patient experiences another blockage leading to closure of the bypass graft," said Dr. Tranbaugh. "I'm very pleased to be able to add this innovative procedure to the lineup of cardiac services that the Hospital has available. "

This Hospital has already established itself as a premiere cardiology and cardiac surgery center and I am delighted to join what is already a very successful program. I want to credit Anthony Tortolani, M.D., the chairman of surgery, and Terrance Sacchi, M.D., our chief of cardiology, for superb work in founding and growing the program. I look forward to working with the team at NYM in the years to come."