While we are disappointed they are no longer with us, we want you to know the 26 cardiologists and 42 advanced practice providers who are part of The Heart Center of NGMC today stand ready and are committed to serving the cardiology needs of our regional community. We continue to put patients first, and you continue to have efficient access to a team of expert heart specialists.
What should I do?
If you have an appointment scheduled with Dr. Allison Dupont, Dr. Brenda Hott, Dr. Christopher Leach, Dr. Mark Leimbach, Dr. Jeffrey Marshall, Dr. Mark Matthews, Dr. Kashyap Patel, Dr. Mehrdad Toosi, Dr. Pradyumna Tummala, Dr. Steven Wang, Dr. Heather Westmoreland or Dr. Andrew Yen, we will contact you within two weeks of your appointment to discuss transitioning your care to an expert provider on our team. If you have an appointment with any of our other cardiologists, please plan to attend your appointment as scheduled.
We know that you have choices for your health care, and we consider it a privilege that you choose The Heart Center of NGMC to manage your heart health.
For assistance, please call 770-225-1848.
Patient FAQs
NGHS was given no notice of the cardiologists’ intention to leave the system until they refused to report for their shifts at our hospitals in Braselton and Gainesville just before midnight on Friday, May 31, 2019. We then received a letter from their attorney on Saturday afternoon, June 1, to let us know that these physicians were not renewing their employment agreements.
We began discussion with the 20 physicians whose contracts were due for renewal more than a year ago. We were actively engaged throughout the negotiations. All parties had agreed, and The Heart Center leadership had unanimously approved prior to their expiration on May 31. We were given no notice of these 12 physicians’ intention to leave the system – in fact, they reassured us that they intended to sign their agreements.
Like all businesses, hospitals and medical practices have employees who join and leave their organizations on a regular basis – and this includes physicians. While we are disappointed when physicians leave our organization, we remain dedicated to improving the health of the community in all we do.
The Heart Center of Northeast Georgia Medical Center has the following 26 cardiologists on staff:
| Elia G. Abboud, MD Cardiology Mahmoud H. Abdou, MD Heart Failure Joon Ahn, MD Cardiac Electrophysiology Vivian Cheng, MD Interventional Cardiology Sudhakara Babu Chennareddy, MD Cardiology Mitchell G. Davis, MD Cardiology Laura Divoky, MD Cardiology Ugochukwu Onyibo Egolum, MD Heart Failure Alok Gambhir, MD Cardiac Electrophysiology Abhishek Gaur, MD Cardiology Nima Ghasemzadeh, MD Interventional Cardiology Jay H. Joseph, MD Cardiology Pavani Kolakalapudi, MD Cardiology | Lalitha C. Medepalli, MD Cardiology Albert B. Mercer, MD Cardiology Gary M. Minkiewicz, MD Cardiology Ioannis Parastatidis, MD Cardiology Ankit A. Patel, MD Interventional Cardiology Stephen P. Prater, MD Cardiac Electrophysiology Zaid H. Said, MD Cardiology Salem N. Sayar, MD Cardiac Electrophysiology Timothy A. Scully, MD Cardiology Veerappan “Ramesh” Subramaniyam, MD Cardiology James H. Varnell, MD Cardiology Ryan T. Whitney, MD Interventional Cardiology Mark W. Wolozin, MD Cardiology |
The Heart Center of NGMC also has 42 advanced practice providers who will work with your physician to provide you with the best overall healthcare.
The 12 cardiologists no longer employed with The Heart Center of NGMC are:
- Allison Dupont
- Brenda Hott
- Christopher Leach
- Mark Leimbach
- Jeff Marshall
- Mark Matthews
- Kashyap Patel
- Mahrdad Toosi
- Prad Tummala
- Steven Wang
- Heather Westmoreland
- Andrew Yen
Cardiovascular and thoracic surgeons are still practicing at their offices and in our hospitals. Those physicians are:
Northeast Georgia Physicians Group Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery
Our vascular surgeons are still practicing at their locations and in our hospitals. Those physicians are:
Patients are receiving phone calls and/or a letter notifying them of the practice changes and providing options for continued care with The Heart Center of NGMC providers.
Our 26 cardiologists and 42 advanced practice providers stand ready and are committed to serving the cardiology needs of our regional community. Additionally, The Heart Center of NGMC has been recruiting new physicians to grow the practice for some time, and that will continue. In fact, we’ve had several interviews for new physicians in recent weeks.
Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville is providing the full complement of heart services people have come to know and trust. NGMC Braselton is temporarily not offering cardiac catheterizations, but is offering many other heart services as they have in the past, including electrophysiology. We plan to resume cardiac catheterization in Braselton as quickly as possible.
The Heart Center of Northeast Georgia is jointly led by Northeast Georgia Health System (Carol Burrell, CEO and Louis Smith, President of System Acute and Post-Acute Operations and Northeast Georgia Medical Center Gainesville) and by physician leaders. At this time, all 26 remaining physicians are actively engaged in operations, and a new physician chairperson should be in place in a few weeks.
Active recruitment has been ongoing for The Heart Center as we continue to grow this practice – in fact we’ve had several interviews for new physicians in recent weeks. We plan to continue recruitment in all our cardiology specialties as soon as possible to meet the needs of our patients in all locations.
Absolutely. We continue to put patients first, and you continue to have efficient access to a team of expert heart specialists. We know that you have choices for your health care, and we consider it a privilege that you choose The Heart Center of NGMC to manage your heart health.
If you have an appointment scheduled with Dr. Allison Dupont, Dr. Brenda Hott, Dr. Christopher Leach, Dr. Mark Leimbach, Dr. Jeffrey Marshall, Dr. Mark Matthews, Dr. Kashyap Patel, Dr. Mehrdad Toosi, Dr. Pradyumna Tummala, Dr. Steven Wang, Dr. Heather Westmoreland or Dr. Andrew Yen, we will contact you within two weeks of your appointment to discuss transitioning your care to an expert provider on your team. If you’d like to arrange something sooner, please feel free to call us at 770-534-2020.
We know you’re surprised by the news, but we want to assure you that the 26 remaining doctors are all wonderful. You’re welcome to schedule an appointment with one of the remaining physicians to establish care with him or her if you’d like, but it’s not necessary. All our providers share every patient’s records, so if you need care at any point in the future, any of our doctors can see you when you need to come in.
No. The Heart Center – as well as all Northeast Georgia Health System facilities – stores all patient records in an electronic medical record system called Epic. All of our physicians will have full access to all patient records.
All patients who have a scheduled test – regardless of the physician who ordered it – are still scheduled for that test.
In order to have tests read as quickly as possible, our process has always been to have the test read by the first available physician, regardless of who ordered the test. Our staff then contact patients as soon as possible after results are recorded to their records to share the test results and advise of any needed follow-up.
Have questions? Please call 770-225-1848.