Danbury Hospital Adds Staff To Expand Cardiac Programs

DANBURY — Danbury Hospital announced this week that it has completed 125 open heart surgeries at its newly named Praxair Regional Heart and Vascular Center and is expanding its cardiac team.

Paul Iannini, MD, chairman of the Department of Medicine, and Andrew M. Keller, MD, chief of cardiology, announced the appointments of Hal S. Wasserman, MD, as director of interventional cardiovascular services and director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory, and Mark K. Warshofsky, MD, as associate director of interventional cardiovascular services.

They are joined by Jaime S. Strachan, MD, who was recently appointed as director of endovascular surgery by Pierre F. Saldinger, MD, FACS, chairman, department of surgery, and Alan M. Dietzek, MD, chief of vascular/endovascular surgery and director, noninvasive vascular laboratory.

Drs Wasserman and Warshofsky were recruited to develop the angioplasty program to provide treatment for acute and chronic heart disease with catheter-based techniques. Angioplasty is the cardiac catheterization technique where small balloons or stents are placed within blocked arteries in order to open the blockages. With the arrival of Drs Wasserman and Warshofsky, The Praxair Regional Heart and Vascular Center will now offer a full-service program for advanced cardiovascular care to Connecticut and New York State residents.

Board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular diseases and interventional cardiology, Dr Wasserman has been affiliated with Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons since earning his medical degree there in 1982. Currently an associate clinical professor of medicine at Columbia University, he served as the associate director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory and as the director of the thrombolysis research program for 12 years. Dr Wasserman also served as a member of Columbia’s committee for cardiology fellowship training, and the New York Presbyterian Hospital joint clinical technology committee.

Dr Wasserman is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, and Society of Cardiac Angiography and Intervention. From 1982 to 1988, Dr Wasserman completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at New York Presbyterian Hospital, and then fellowships in cardiology and cardiac catheterization/interventional cardiology at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. He earned an AB from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, in 1978.

Board certified in cardiovascular diseases and interventional cardiology, Dr Warshofsky is an assistant professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he has been a faculty member since 1993. Prior to his arrival at Danbury Hospital, he had been in practice as an interventional cardiologist at New York Presbyterian Hospital since 1998.

Dr Warshofsky is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and a member of the American Heart Association. Between 1990 and 1998, he completed fellowships in interventional cardiology and cardiology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and an internship and residency in internal medicine at Presbyterian Hospital, both located in New York City.

Dr Warshofsky earned a medical degree with distinction from George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C., after completing the postgraduate premedical program at Columbia University School of General Studies and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the State University of New York at Albany.

As Dr Dietzek’s new associate, Dr Strachan will support the clinical needs of patients with endovascular and peripheral vascular disease. He specializes in open and endovascular surgery specifically in the areas pertaining to aortic aneurysm, carotid disease, renal and visceral artery disease, as well as peripheral vascular pathology.

Board certified in general surgery, Dr Strachan completed a fellowship in vascular surgery at Stony Brook (N.Y.) University Hospital in 2005, and a surgical residency at Waterbury Hospital in 2003. One of his key research projects at Stony Brook — investigating ways to reduce cardiac morbidity after carotid endarterectomy by cardiac screening and coronary intervention — was presented at the 33rd Annual Symposium on Vascular Surgery earlier this year.

After graduating from MD Superior Institute of Basic Sciences and General Calixto Garcia Hospital, Havana, Cuba, in 1988, Dr Strachan completed a surgical residency from 1988 to 1992, and served as chief physician of ambulatory surgery at General Calixto Garcia Hospital from 1992 to 1994.