On the future of heart and vascular care with Patrick T. Ellinor, MD, PhD

Q: When you were named executive director of the new Mass General Brigham Heart and Vascular Institute, what was your first priority?

The same week I started in December 2024, we held a town hall to outline a vision for our new institute. Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital each had leading cardiology, cardiac surgery, and vascular surgery programs that needed to be brought together as one team. We began by respecting the history and impact of these storied programs. For example, the Brigham performed the first ever cardiac surgery, and Mass General was an early pioneer in the use of EKGs. From there, we started mapping out our future together across clinical care, research, education, and community outreach.

Q: Where is the institute best positioned, and where do you see the greatest opportunities for growth?

Our education and research pillars are undeniably world-class. By bringing these programs together, we can focus on creating the best educational program possible, rather than competing internally for the same candidates. It also makes us the largest recipient of heart and vascular research funding in the nation.

One of our greatest opportunities lies in streamlining our operations. Clinically, we have extraordinary people and a nearly limitless demand for services. However, historically, our hospitals often operated in silos, making it harder than it should be for patients to navigate our system. By transitioning from independent entities into a unified network, we have become — overnight — one of the largest academic heart and vascular programs in the country, deeply focused on making our care seamless and accessible.

Q: How do the community hospitals fit into your vision?

They are absolutely essential. We have about 75 cardiologists working throughout our community sites, and together, these sites account for over half of all cardiology visits in our system — more volume than Mass General and the Brigham combined.

We are actively investing in these community locations, providing the technology and staff necessary to handle higher-acuity care locally rather than automatically transferring patients downtown. For example, earlier this year, we performed our first AFib ablations at Salem Hospital and at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital — advanced care that simply wouldn't have been possible at these locations in the past.

Q: Can you describe a moment that helped shape your vision for the institute?

A powerful example is how we now respond to aortic dissections. They are one of the deadliest emergencies in medicine, where a patient’s survival odds drop drastically within hours. Previously, this required a flurry of urgent phone calls between hospitals while precious time slipped away. Today, there is one team and one phone call, and the answer is always yes. The patient goes straight to whichever operating room in our system is ready first. That change is saving lives across New England. Thanks to the collaborative work of our cardiac and vascular surgery teams, it was implemented in just a few months.

Q: What’s the most important message you want people to take away about the institute?

We have the best people, at every level of clinical care, research, and education. This institute gives us the rare opportunity to rethink how we’ve always done things. From the website to the phone to the exam room, we are making ourselves easier to reach, so that world-class care is accessible to everyone who needs it.