Naples, FL – July 1, 2025 – The NCH Rooney Heart Institute is proud to announce its outstanding outcomes in cardiac surgery, reaffirming its place among the top cardiovascular programs in the country. The Institute earned three-star ratings – the highest possible denomination – from the prestigious Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) in several major categories, including Isolated Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG), Aortic Valve Replacement (AVR), and the new category Multiprocedural Composite Quality Ranking. Only approximately one-quarter of hospitals nationwide received this top designation in the new category.
The cardiac surgery program at NCH performs over 400 cardiac surgical cases a year. For more than 25 years, since the first coronary bypass surgery at NCH in November 1995, the NCH cardiac surgery team has maintained a consistent focus on patient outcomes, data-driven improvement, and clinical excellence. The STS star ratings, which are based on a rolling three-year evaluation, are among the most respected measures in cardiac surgery and position NCH in the highest performing quartile for heart surgery with exceptionally lower rates of 30-day morbidity and mortality, and favorable observed-to-expected (O/E) outcome ratios across the board. With this year’s recognition, the Rooney Heart Institute has now received three stars for isolated CABG for over a decade.
“I am very proud of our team. These ratings truly reflect the outstanding quality of care the team provides, and our unwavering commitment to excellence,” said Dr. Robert Cubeddu, President of the NCH Rooney Heart Institute.
“For years NCH has been ranked a three-star program in coronary artery bypass grafting and in aortic valve replacement, the two most commonly performed cardiac surgeries in the United States. However, there’s a number of other procedures that we do at NCH that are more complex and more involved,” said Robert Pascotto, MD, Cardiac Surgeon at NCH for the past 19 years. “The new three-star rating in Multiprocedural Composite Quality recognizes our excellent outcomes with these more complex surgeries.”
With these ratings, patients can feel confident that they are getting the best heart care available anywhere right here in Naples at the NCH Rooney Heart Institute. For more information about the NCH Rooney Heart Institute and cardiac surgery services, visit www.NCHmd.org.
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