The Ronnie Green Heart Center

Located on the Main Campus of NGMC, the Ronnie Green Heart Center offers intensive cardiac medical and surgical inpatient care to the residents of northeast Georgia.

Services provided at the Ronnie Green Heart Center include care of inpatients recovering from open-heart surgery, cardiac interventions such as angioplasty and stent placement and other coronary events in a 17-bed state-of-the-art cardiac intensive care unit.

Open-heart surgery procedures performed include valve replacement and/or repair, coronary artery by-pass and off-pump by-pass procedures, and repair of thoracic aortic aneurysms. Each year, the physicians and staff of the Heart Center care for approximately 500 cardiac surgical patients who consistently experience excellent outcomes.

Physicians and Clinical Staff of The Ronnie Green Heart Center
In addition to today’s most advanced technology, the Ronnie Green Heart Center is supported by highly qualified and experienced cardiologists, cardiac interventionalists, cardiac surgeons and cardiac anesthesiologists. Many of the physicians who practice at the Heart Center have trained and practiced at leading cardiac programs in Atlanta and around the country including Emory, St. Joseph’s, Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University.

Many members of the surgical, critical care and cardiac care nursing staff as well as the clinical support staff for the Ronnie Green Heart Center also have been recruited from prominent programs. By bringing experienced staff to the program and offering extensive, ongoing training for existing staff, the Heart Center has created the “perfect” blend of highly skilled staff that is passionate about the quality of service they provide and have a regional reputation for excellent care.

History of The Ronnie Green Heart Center

A lifelong resident of Gainesville, Ronnie Green was 55 when he died in March 2001 of a heart attack. In December 2001, his parents, Frank and Lillie Mae Green donated $4 million from Ronnie’s estate through The Medical Center Foundation to benefit Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s new open-heart program.

The gift was a tribute to their son Ronnie, beloved by the Gainesville community. Ronnie was born to Mr. and Mrs. Green, the founding owners of Green’s Grocery Store in Gainesville. A graduate of Young Harris College and the University of Georgia, Ronnie wished for nothing more than to return to Gainesville, Green’s Grocery and the neighborhood people he loved dearly.

For this reason, the Greens felt it was only appropriate for part of Ronnie’s legacy to be a gift that would continue to contribute to the health of his community. The unprecedented donation resulted in naming the cardiac intensive care unit the Ronnie Green Heart Center. A bronze memorial marks the entrance to the Heart Center, commemorating the generous gift and Ronnie’s life. Now, Ronnie Green will go on touching, both literally and figuratively, the hearts of many in northeast Georgia for years to come.