Honors an individual or team behind a new scientific discovery, procedure, treatment or device that can save lives or improve the quality of life for a large number of people.

TAYLOR BAZEMORE

TITLE: Doctor

ORGANIZATION: Novant Health Heart & Vascular Institute
       
WHAT A NOMINATOR SAID: Atrial fibrillation is the most common type of cardiac arrhythmia, expected to affect more than 12 million people in the United States by 2030. Treatment approaches include medications and increasingly more often, a procedure called ablation to reduce symptoms and reduce the chance of recurrent arrhythmia. A new energy to perform these procedures more safely and efficiently called Pulsed Field Ablation (PFA) was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration and involves the use of pulsed electrical fields sent through a catheter to treat misfiring cardiac tissue in the heart.

Bazemore, cardiac electrophysiologist with Novant Health Heart & Vascular Institute, led efforts to bring Pulsed Field technology to the cardiac electrophysiology lab at Novant Health NHMRC.

“Our electrophysiology laboratory team was among the earliest in the nation to perform pulsed field ablations after FDA approval in December. The first procedure in Wilmington was performed in April. Dr. Bazemore was the first physician in the state of North Carolina to perform a PFA ablation using the Medtronic system.”

– Keith Golden, doctor and cardiac electrophysiology lab medical director, Novant Health Heart & Vascular Institute

BRUNSWICK SURGERY CENTER

WHAT A NOMINATOR SAID: “Located in Leland, North Carolina, ambulatory surgery center BSC (Brunswick Surgery Center) opened its doors in September 2020 with 15 EmergeOrtho surgeons and has since become a trailblazer in outpatient orthopedic surgery in Brunswick County and surrounding regions. BSC has currently grown to 20 shareholders who provide state-of-the-art orthopedic, spine and pain management surgery.

Brunswick Surgery Center is an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) dedicated to providing high-quality, cost-effective, patient-centered care. …

BSC employs cutting-edge technology to offer same-day surgical procedures, reducing hospital admissions and recovery times. Our facility is equipped with advanced surgical tools, including three total-joint robots, minimally invasive technology that enhances patient outcomes and shortens recovery periods.”

In March, DNV, an independent assurance and risk management provider, announced that Brunswick Surgery Center is the first ambulatory surgery center (ASC) in the United States to become certified in all four DNV orthopedic specialty programs.

– Cynthia Burleson (pictured above), administrator and CEO, Brunswick Surgery Center 

MICHELLE SUMRALL

TITLE: Manager of Respiratory Care Services, Cardiovascular Diagnostics and NHBMC Wellness Center

ORGANIZATION: Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center

WHAT A NOMINATOR SAID: “Michelle currently leads the Respiratory Services Department, Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Novant Brunswick Wellness Center. Among these departments, they’ve initiated many value-added services to the facility as well as the community.

In the cardiovascular space, she has had oversight of the expansion of sonographers to many Novant Health Medical Group clinics to create access for patients all over the county. This includes four clinics to span a whole week. …

Michelle led the successful opening of a new cardiac rehab gym, as well as the successful launch of both pulmonary rehabilitation and cancer wellness programs. In the new wellness center, she has leveraged Six Sigma lean training to help evaluate operations, thinking differently and more efficiently leading to the solution of rotating sonographers around amongst the hospital and the clinics.”

– Vera Newkirk, compliance/privacy officer, Novant Health

Read more about all of the 2024 Health Care Heroes finalists here.