Collaborative Cardiovascular Care is The Key to Success at First Coast Cardiovascular Institute®

Your cardiovascular health is no longer a one-man show; these days it takes a village of subspecialties to keep your ticker ticking!

It used to be that the general practitioner took care of all our medical needs. That was more than 50 years ago. Since then, the revolution in cardiovascular medicine and technology has made it impossible for one cardiologist to handle all patients’ needs. Increasingly, doctors have had to further subspecialize in cardiovascular medicine.

Although cardiology is a relatively narrow field, advancements have swiftly progressed, furthering subspecialties in order for physicians to keep pace with medical innovation. Dr. Ali, Vice President at FCCI, summarizes the secrets for a successful practice in “the rule of 3 T’s”: Talent, Tenacity, and Tools. “We seek doctors with talent and tenacity to fight for the patients, and provide them with the best in cutting edge tools. This has worked extremely well for us and our patients for the past 10 years; It defines who we are.”

First Coast Cardiovascular Institute (FCCI) recognized early on the importance of this continuous transition and progress, in fact, the senior partners, Drs. Yazan Khatib, Vaqar Ali, Sumant Lamba and Youssef Al-Saghir, introduced many of those subspecialties to the larger tri-county area, Duval, Clay, St. Johns and Baker counties, even before they were acknowledged as additional subspecialties. “We were the first to introduce high-end endovascular medicine to the area, indeed we dedicated a division for it and I was assigned by the group the task of spearheading it,” says Dr. Khatib, the Institute’s President. Five years later, vascular medicine and endovascular medicine became recognized as separate branches of medicine, for which a specialty board examination was introduced. “I am proud that our doctors were among the first to credential for that prestigious board certification,” says Juzar Lokhandwala, M.D., Director of FCCI Operations in St. Johns County.

FCCI has added many board certified subspecialties to its practice creating an all-encompassing Institute for cardiovascular patients. These include: vascular and endovascular medicine, repairing vessels from head-to-toe through minimally invasive techniques without surgical wounds; electrophysiology, focusing on irregular heart beats, pacemakers and defibrillators; interventional cardiology, specializing in halting heart attacks using lifesaving stents; nuclear cardiology, echocardiography and vascular ultrasound, making up the basic tools with which doctors test patient’s heart and vessels; sleep medicine, analyzing the relationship between sleep and cardiovascular health; neurology, furthering the prevention and treatment of strokes; and research department, allowing patients access to tomorrow’s treatments today.

“We see the integration of 15 diverse board certifications and accredited services in one cohesive group as a proud milestone. We are also constantly collaborating with colleagues in other specialties for the betterment of overall healthcare in our beloved First Coast,” says Dr. Youssef Al-Saghir Director of Clay county FCCI operations.