This summer, Dr. James (Jimmy) Day began offering his years of thoracic surgical experience and training exclusively to patients at the McKenzie-Willamette Heart Center. Day is performing cardiac surgeries, both on a scheduled and on an emergency and on-call basis.

Day has extensive cardiac and thoracic surgery experience. He will introduce several new procedures to the Heart Center.

"The competence, professionalism and leading edge technology of McKenzie-Willamette Heart Center are the main reasons I decided to join this team. When patients come here, they receive patient-centered, compassionate care at every stage of treatment and recovery."

Unlike traditional open heart surgery environments, where patients are moved from room to room and floor to floor during various stages of hospitalization, in McKenzie-Willamette's innovative Heart Center patients recover in the cardiovascular intensive care unit, directly adjacent to the cardiovascular operating room.

Whether they are on the unit for surgery or other cardiac procedures, patients stay in the same unit from admission to discharge. This enables surgeons and staff to remain involved with the same patients throughout, enhancing the continuity of care and creating a more relaxing, healing environment.

For the past 11 years, Day has practiced with a cardiovascular and thoracic surgery group in Little Rock, Ark., where he routinely performed cardiac surgery at each of Little Rock's four hospitals.

Additionally, Day said he appreciates the quality of the medical services our community offers. He believes the strong network of care choices for patients encourages collaborative opportunities with other medical professionals and caregivers.

Lottie Poe Duey is media coordinator for McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center.