CHKD Heart Center

U.S. News & World Report has ranked the Virginia Congenital Cardiac Collaborative, CHKD’s partnership with University of Virginia Children’s hospital, one of the best cardiology and heart surgery programs in the country. The publication’s 2022-23 “Best Children’s Hospitals” guide ranked the collaborative No. 20 among the top 50 pediatric cardiology and heart surgery programs in the country.

About Us

The heart center at CHKD is committed to providing compassionate, dedicated and the highest quality cardiovascular care for both children and adults. We are devoted to achieving the best possible outcomes for our patients and their families. From our outpatient clinics to our inpatient services we are one team with one mission: your child.

Our Services

The Heart Center treats a full spectrum of congenital and acquired cardiac disorders. Our patients range in age from newborns diagnosed before birth to adults living with congenital heart defects. We offer care through the following related services:

• Pediatric cardiology
• Cardiac diagnostics, including prenatal diagnostics
• Cardiac catheterizations and electrophysiology
• Cardiac surgery

Our Pediatric Team

The Heart Center is led by our director of cardiology Dr. Jonathan Fleenor, cardiac surgeon Dr. James Gangemi, director of the UVA/CHKD regional collaborative for cardiac care, and our chief of cardiac surgery Dr. Philip Smith.

Our staff works closely with referring physicians, other pediatric specialists and family members to provide the best possible outcomes. Because CHKD is a freestanding, full-service children's hospital, every inch of our facility and all members of our medical team are devoted exclusively to the needs of young people, and our patients benefit from the full range of pediatric specialists and support services available only at freestanding children's hospitals.

Vital Statistics

• Patients make nearly 12,000 visits a year to CHKD’s cardiologists.
• Our fully-credentialed sonographers perform approximately 8,000 echocardiography studies a year.
• CHKD lab is the region's only lab accredited in fetal echocardiography.
• Our cardiac catheterization specialists perform approximately 250 procedures a year.  
• CHKD has implanted 39 Melody valves.
• CHKD's electrophysiologists performed 40 catheter ablations last year with a 97.5 percent acute success rate.
• At CHKD, three cardiac anesthesiologists provide care for all cardiac patients undergoing surgery, catheterization, or other procedures that require anesthesia/sedation.

Outcomes Data

• Data from all diagnostic and interventional catheterization procedures is submitted to the National Cardiovascular Disease Registry IMPACT database to participate in evidence-based practice guidelines for improvement of patient outcomes.
• For benchmarking purposes, CHKD voluntarily shares its volumes and outcomes data with the Society for Thoracic Surgeons.