Finding out you need heart surgery can be a daunting and anxiety-filled experience, no matter where you are in your journey. At St. Elizabeth Healthcare, we recognize these concerns and are committed to making sure you receive comprehensive pre- and post-surgical support to ensure a better recovery and long-term heart health.
Our dedicated team does this by working together as one. “Our surgery team is vast,” says Dr. Mario Castillo-Sang, a Cardiac Surgeon at St. Elizabeth Healthcare. “I would say there are three facets to it.”
Better understand our surgery team’s role in your care, from beginning to end:
The Office Staff: Your First Point of Contact
The office is where most of the staff and patients meet for the first time. We understand the importance of feeling at ease before surgery and want you to know that your care will begin long before your surgery does.
“The commitment of the office staff to the patient is absolute,” says Dr. Castillo-Sang. “We have an amazing group that helps us take care of patients before and after surgery.” Our office staff speaks with you directly on calls, guides you to and from surgery and makes the first step an easy step.
The Operating Room Team: Precision and Coordination
Once you are ready for surgery, you move to the operating room, where a highly efficient and unified team takes over. This team includes physician assistants, surgical assistants and perfusionists who run the heart-lung machine, as well as anesthesiologists and circulating nurses.
Our surgery team is especially skilled at treating mitral valve disease and offers the following surgeries:
- Complex mitral valve repair.
- Complex mitral valve replacement.
- Minimally invasive (endoscopic) mitral valve surgery.
We also offer the latest aortic and tricuspid valve treatments, including:
- Complex aortic root surgery.
- Minimally invasive aortic valve surgery.
- Minimally invasive endoscopic tricuspid valve surgery.
- Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).
- Tricuspid valve surgery.
Regardless of the specific procedure, our team is prepared to offer the best surgical care. “This is a highly skilled, coordinated group of people fully dedicated to doing open heart surgery successfully for patients,” says Dr. Castillo-Sang.
The ICU Team: Comprehensive Post-Operative Care
After surgery, you transition to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), which Dr. Castillo-Sang describes as ”The best ICU in the city for cardiovascular recovery.” This comprehensive team ensures that you undergo as smooth of a recovery as possible. Dr. Castillo-Sang notes, ”We have a group of dedicated nurses and intensivist physicians who help us take care of our patients.” The rest of the team includes but is not limited to:
- Respiratory therapists
- Physical therapists
- Occupational therapists
- Speech therapists
In most cases, you’ll stay in the same room until you’re discharged from the hospital, so that you can receive round-the-clock care from the team members mentioned above. We’re one of only a few hospitals in the area to offer this. This improves coordination and communication among your caregivers.
Award-Winning Cardiac Surgery Care
If you have blocked arteries, an irregular heartbeat, damaged heart valves or heart failure, you may need heart surgery.
Schedule a consultation with a provider on our heart surgery team or give us a call, at (859) 301-9010.
Take a virtual tour of the Florence Wormald Heart & Vascular Institute.
Medically reviewed by Mario Castillo-Sang, MD on 11/17/25.
