Bayfront Heart Center is south Pinellas County’s most comprehensive cardiac care program – offering unparalleled expertise and experience in more cardiac specialties than any other local hospital. Bayfront Heart Center is made up of 35,000 square feet of new treatment space, more than 200 dedicated team members, 43 expert physicians and 13 clinical programs, all coming together to mean ONE thing: the best care for you.
	Tip: Celebrate your birthday by remembering to make a yearly checkup with a Bayfront physician to talk about how you can reduce your risk for heart disease, stroke and heart attack. For a physician referral, call 727-895-DOCS.
Electrophysiologist Dr. Robert Sheppard is one of 43 physician real heroes who make life-changing differences for their patients at the Bayfront Heart Center. Awards and Accreditations Premier Award for Quality Premier, the hospital industry’s most comprehensive comparative database, recently awarded Bayfront’s open-heart program with its 2007 Award for Quality. Only five other hospitals in the country can make that claim. Chest Pain Center Bayfront Medical Center’s ER-based chest pain center has earned full accreditation from the Society of Chest Pain Centers – making it the first hospital in Pinellas County to receive national recognition as an official Chest Pain Center. Bayfront’s 24-hour emergency department sees thousands of patients with chest pain each year.  Four beds in the ER are designated for chest pain patients and observation begins immediately. Once determined that the patient in fact needs additional cardiac care, the patient has instant access to Bayfront’s expert team of cardiologists, state-of-the-art diagnostic tools, catheterization labs, and treatment options, including our premier open heart surgery program.
Carescience Bayfront Heart Center was recently recognized as a 2006 Carescience Select Practice National Quality Leader in the category of Cardiac Bypass Surgery. To achieve this status, Bayfront demonstrated a combination of superior clinical outcomes and exceptional efficiency within the clinical category when compared to other hospitals throughout the country. This ranking is based on 16 different clinical indicators, more than any other national quality award or designation.
Support Groups Our goal as the Bayfront Heart Center is not only to treat our patients physically, but to make them and their loved ones feel comfortable and knowledgeable about their conditions. Support groups help patients and their families improve their quality of life and make healthy lifestyle changes. Mended Hearts Support Group Bayfront hosts a free monthly support group called Mended Hearts for patients and their families.  The group is coordinated by the members, and offers education, encouragement and social activities.  For dates and locations, visit www.mendedhearts.org Cardiac Defibrillator Support Group Meetings are held four times a year in February, April, October, December, on the second Wednesday of the month, from noon-1:30 p.m. in Bayfront’s Sheen Conference Center. For more information, call 893-6424.