OHIO VALLEY HEARTCARE CLINICIANS
RECEIVE SURGICAL AWARD

EVANSVILLE, IND. (August 16, 2005) - Four surgical clinicians from Ohio Valley HeartCare (OVHC), an Evansville-based cardiology and cardiovascular surgery practice, have been honored as platinum members of Guidant Corporation's EVH Leadership Circle. The award recognizes clinicians who have performed 1,500 - 2,000 endoscopic vessel harvesting (EVH) cases using Guidant's VasoView® System, or have consistently practiced EVH for at least four years. Only 162 people in the United States -- whom Guidant calls the nation's most experienced EVH clinicians -- have received the honor.

The OVHC clinicians receiving the award are: Lisa Beasley, CST, CFA; Carol Jones, CST, CFA; Eric McCormick, CST, CFA; and Claudia Merkley, ACNP-BC.

EVH is a procedure used during coronary artery bypass ("open heart") surgery to help reroute blood around blocked arteries to improve blood flow and oxygen to the heart. The procedure involves taking, or harvesting, a vein or artery from another part of the body, typically the leg, and sewing or grafting the vessel to the coronary artery to bypass the clogged artery and restore blood flow.

EVH offers patients a minimally-invasive alternative for obtaining the vein or artery, and eliminates the long incision required to remove the vessel. Using Guidant's VasoView System, the vessel can be removed through one to three small incisions. This reduces postoperative pain, recovery time, infection rates and scarring, and allows patients to walk sooner and more easily. Approximately 80 percent of EVH procedures in the United States in 2004 were performed using the VasoView System, and nearly 400,000 VasoView cases have been performed worldwide.

Ohio Valley HeartCare
Headquartered in Evansville, Ind., Ohio Valley HeartCare (www.ovhc.com) is among the tri-state region's most comprehensive cardiology and cardiovascular surgery practices, offering patients a full range of invasive and non-invasive services. OVHC's medical staff includes 8 cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons, offering medical expertise to the entire family. In addition to its three Evansville offices, the Angina Center of Evansville, the Women's HeartCare Center of Evansville, The Thoracic Surgery Center at Ohio Valley HeartCare, the ViewPoint Peripheral Vascular Screening Program, the Women’s Heart Initiative “specialized cardiovascular screening and educational program, just for women”, and the tri-state area's first nationally accredited vascular laboratory, Ohio Valley HeartCare operates clinics and offices in Boonville, Ind., Tell City, Ind., Henderson, Ky. and Eldorado, Ill.

901 St. Mary's Drive, Suite 300 Evansville, IN 47714 1-800-26-HEART

Send us Email at the address: webmaster@ovhc.com