The I.O. Silver Cardiovascular Specialties Clinic of Penn State Heart and Vascular Institute at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

Cardiovascular disease continues to be the Number 1 killer in America. This disease is prejudiced against no one as it strikes people of all ages, gender, racial, and ethnic background. More people die annually from cardiovascular disease than from cancer, accidents, pneumonia, or AIDS combined. In fact, cardiovascular disease continues to account for almost 45 percent of all deaths annually. Furthermore, some 70 million people presently suffer from some form of cardiovascular disease.

Because cardiovascular disease is most prevalent in patients over the age of 45 years, Penn State Heart and Vascular Institute at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is particularly concerned with the general aging of the population. As the "Baby Boomers" age, the breakdown of population demographics becomes more heavily slanted toward those age categories above 45 years of age, which ultimately yields a vast majority of the population being "cardiovascular disease prime". Thus, the presence of cardiovascular disease in adults will continue to increase.

Additionally, children continue to suffer from congenital cardiac defects that require significant surgical and medical management. In fact, one out of every 300 children is born with some form of congenital cardiac defect. Through the utilization of advanced imaging techniques, along with the development of improved surgical and non-surgical approaches to the repair of congenital defects, cardiovascular care providers are giving these children increased opportunities to lead reasonably normal lives.

As medicine has evolved and experienced market transition, the need for dedicated outpatient management of patients with all forms of cardiovascular diseases has become more critical. The Heart and Vascular Institute at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is prepared to meet this challenge by formally integrating all outpatient aspects of its cardiovascular care program into one unified outpatient setting - the I.O. Silver Cardiovascular Specialties Clinic. The new entity will include specialists from Adult Cardiology, Pediatric Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgery, and Vascular Surgery. This unification will ultimately provide patients with substantially increased choice and access to full-scale programs targeted at cardiovascular disease detection, intervention, prevention, and wellness. Additionally, this entity will serve as a formal extension of the Center’s comprehensive hospital-based program.

The staff in the new outpatient office will serve as a primary resource for all patient services such as scheduling, general questions, pharmaceutical refills, etc. In addition, this site will serve as the hub of a widely dispersed network of satellite outpatient offices where Center specialists also see patients.

Finally, the Center’s cardiovascular specialists remain at the forefront of clinical practice through active research and education programs. Cardiovascular specialists at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center are responsible for the development of many of the advanced treatment mechanisms utilized today in treating cardiovascular disease, and due to their commitment to excellence and the advancement of clinical practice, they will remain on the leading edge.