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Profiles

GOOD SAMARITAN MEDICAL CENTER

Emilio L. Garcia, MD

Dr. Emilio L. Garcia is a Cardiologist with advanced sub-
specialty training in Interventional Cardiology. He is Board-
Certified in Interventional Cardiology, Cardiovascular
Disease, Nuclear Cardiology and Internal Medicine. He
practices at Good Samaritan Medical Center and believes in
providing compassionate and comprehensive patient-cen-
tered care for the community . He received his B.S. from the
University of Miami and went on to earn his medical degree
from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
School of Medicine. He completed his residency at Mount
Sinai Medical Center, followed by specialty and subspecial-
ty training in Cardiovascular Disease and Interventional Cardiology at The University
of Florida College of Medicine. Dr. Garcia has conducted research and publications
on scientific journals in the areas of cardiology, thrombotic and antiplatelet therapies
and evolving treatments for Interventional Cardiology.
He is a member of various professional organizations including the American
Society of Nuclear Cardiology, the American College of Cardiology and the Society for
Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions. Dr. Garcia’s main clinical interests are
the use and development of catheter-based therapies for the treatment of Coronary
Artery Disease, Peripheral Arterial Disease and Structural Heart Disease.

Atif Bashir, MD

Dr. Atif Bashir is an interventional cardiologist on staff at
Good Samaritan Medical Center. Dr. Bashir received his
medical degree from the Aga Khan University in Karachi,
Pakistan. Dr. Bashir then did his residency in Internal
Medicine at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood,
Illinois and both his Cardiology and Interventional
Cardiology fellowship at North Shore University Hospital in
Manhasset, New York. Dr. Bashir is board certified in
Internal Medicine, Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology,
Cardiac CT, Nuclear Cardiology, Vascular Imaging and
Echocardiography. In addition to general Cardiology he is
performing complex coronary, peripheral and structural
heart interventions including transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and per-
cutaneous mitral valve interventions.

Cover Story: ECMO: A

Machine that Helps Save Lives

Continued from page 1
port patients already on ECMO who may need a higher level of care or rescue those
in emergency situations who have been brought to facilities without ECMO capabili-
ties. For critically-ill patients who are too compromised for standard ambulance
transport, a team that includes a cardiac surgeon and an ICU physician will travel to
the referring hospital to further assess the patient. If appropriate, he or she will be
placed on the ECMO machine to stabilize their condition prior to transport to
Memorial Regional Hospital’s CVICU, where the complexities of their care can be fur-
ther managed. It’s a formalized protocol we believe allows Memorial to use its
resources to assist those facilities and patients in the most complex, life and death sit-
uations.

Celebrating Success
We’ve now utilized ECMO on more than 130 patients since the technology was
incorporated into treatment by Memorial in 2014 and it was a joyous atmosphere
when we recently reunited survivors with the medical teams that saved their lives.
The “Celebration of Life” event was emotional for all involved, with many ‘thank
yous,’ tears, and shared memories. For physicians like myself, it was especially grati-
fying to see former patients healthy, on their feet, and back to life. For patients and
families, it was an opportunity to give thanks to professionals who were at their best
during a time the individual was, as far as their health was concerned, at their worst.
I consider myself fortunate to work among such professionals at a heart specialist
hospital staffed by a collaborative group of cardiac physicians and surgeons. Our goal
is to not only treat an extensive range of heart and vascular conditions, but to offer
patients answers to whatever questions they may have, ranging from preventive heart
health to high-tech, catheterization lab procedures to heart transplant.
For us, ECMO is often a part of those conversations as it provides safe and effective
solutions to a variety of serious problems.

Dr. I-wen Wang is a cardiac surgeon and chief of adult heart transplant
at Memorial Cardiac & Vascular Institute.
For more information, visit www.mhs.net/services/cardiac-vascular.

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