Trinity Mother Frances has been the leading provider of heart care in east Texas since 1983. Our recent affiliation with the cardiologists of Tyler Cardiovascular Consultants is helping us take cardiac care in the region to the next level of quality. Together with our Trinity Clinic cardiologists in Athens and Canton and the skilled surgeons of Trinity Clinic Cardiothoracic Surgery, Trinity Mother Frances and CVC are committed to prevention, early detection, accurate diagnosis and state-of-the-art treatment of heart disease.

As part of the affiliation, the organizations have formed a new management firm, Cardiac Imaging Management Specialists, LLC (CIMS) that provides oversight and management of cardiovascular diagnostic services including nuclear testing, echocardiography, positron emission tomography (PET) and other cardiac diagnostics. CIMS provides cardiovascular diagnostic services at Mother Frances Hospitals in Tyler and Jacksonville, Trinity Mother Frances-Athens, Trinity Mother Frances-Canton, and Tyler Cardiovascular Consultants, 619 S. Fleishel, Tyler. Additional outpatient facilities, including Trinity Clinic Douglas in Tyler will offer the diagnostic services beginning February 15, 2010, with more Trinity Mother Frances sites to follow later in the year.

More heart procedures are performed at Mother Frances Hospital than in any other east Texas facility. In addition, Trinity Mother Frances Cardiology Services can claim many notable achievements:

• More than 638,000 cardiac procedures
• More than 13,000 open-heart surgeries
• More than 60,000 cardiac catheterizations
• More than 16,000 interventional cardiac stents
• Nearly 12,000 pacemaker/electrophysiology procedures
• More than 200 robotic-assisted heart surgeries
• First Intensive Care Unit in east Texas
• First in the region to perform permanent pacemaker implantation
• First open-heart surgery suite in east Texas
• First comprehensive Heart Institute in the region
• One of the first in the U.S. to introduce clot-busting drugs
• First in east Texas with advanced lipid testing
• First in the U.S. with total EKG networking capabilities
• First in east Texas with accredited Chest Pain Center
• First magnetic assisted complex interventional cardiac procedure in the world was performed in the TMF Heart Institute
• First robotic heart bypass surgery in east Texas performed at TMF Heart Institute
• First institution in east Texas with da Vinci, the world's most advanced surgical robotic system
• First in east Texas to implement CODE STEMI protocol for rapid assessment and treatment of heart attack victims with ST-elevation myocardial infarction
• First in east Texas to perform minimally invasive mitral valve repair

This impressive list of 'firsts' is due to several factors: commitment to providing state-of-the-art technology for cardiovascular services, the dedicated and highly-skilled cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons practicing at the Trinity Mother Frances Heart Institute, and the development of outstanding facilities that bring these two elements together to best serve the needs of heart patients in the region.


Meet Our Cardiologists

Robert Carney, MD

Brent Davis, MD

David Dick, MD

Marina Flaskas, MD
Trinity Clinic Cardiology

David Hector, MD

J. Daniel Jackman, MD

Kenneth Kummerfeld, MD

Felix D. Lugo-Adams, MD
Trinity Clinic Cardiology

Roderick Meese, MD
Associate Chief of Cardiology
Trinity Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics

Frank Navetta, MD

C. Fagg Sanford, MD - View Dr. Sanford's Bio Video
Chief of Cardiology
Trinity Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics
John Sims, MD

Robert Smith, MD

Tad Tolleson, MD

Stan Weiner, MD


Meet Our Cardiothoracic Surgeons

Duane Andrews, MD, FACS

James A. Caccitolo, MD, FACS

Neelan S. Doolabh, MD

William F. Turner, Jr., MD, FACS