San Vicente Fundacion, Mount Sinai Unveil Groundbreaking ‘Clinical Alliance’
New York’s world-famous Mount Sinai Hospital announced February 18 that it has finalized a “clinical alliance” deal with Medellin-based San Vicente Fundacion (SVF), aiming to “transform access to health care for communities within Latin America.”
The Mount Sinai Hospital is one of seven hospital campuses within The Mount Sinai Health System, one of the largest integrated health systems in the United States — and one of the world’s most prestigious medical organizations.
Medellin Herald first revealed details of the initial agreement between Mount Sinai and SVF last fall (see “International Medicine Growing in Medellin; Goes beyond ‘Medical Tourism,” Medellin Herald November 9, 2015).
The now-formalized alliance between Mount Sinai and SVF will “expand [Mount Sinai’s] clinical cardiovascular footprint for the first time into Latin America,” according to Mount Sinai.
“Mount Sinai is excited for the opportunity to bring its world-renowned experts and cutting-edge clinical advances into Colombia,” said Dr. Arthur Klein, MD, President of Mount Sinai Health Network. “We will share with this prestigious institution scientific knowledge, entrepreneurial culture and institutional missions of our organization.”
Led by Dr. Allan Stewart, MD, Director of Aortic Surgery for The Mount Sinai Heath System, the new alliance will “focus on the redesign of cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery services at [San Vicente Fundacion] University Hospital and [SVF’s] Specialized Centers,” according to Mount Sinai.
“Our goal is for the communities served by San Vicente to immediately have the depth and breadth of experience in cardiology and cardiac surgery services from Mount Sinai,” said Dr. Stewart. “Our physicians will make regular trips to the centers, implementing existing training and policy and procedure best practices used within our health system every day.”
“Several years of discussions and meetings helped SVF consolidate the foundation to establish such a strategic alliance,” added SVF’s Dr. Sergio Franco, MD, Medical Director, Cardiopulmonary and Vascular Center. “In this way, we will become a reference for the health of the country to treat pathologies in cardiovascular and pulmonary peripheral areas, which have become the leading cause of morbidity in the world.”
The initial phase of the new alliance will feature a “broad range of consult opportunities for clinical areas including patient safety programs, clinical quality management, and standardization of care. Other cardiovascular clinical areas will include programs dedicated to advanced heart failure and pediatric cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery,” according to Mount Sinai.
The Mount Sinai Health System employs approximately 6,100 primary and specialty care physicians; 12 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 140 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers.
The system’s physicians “are affiliated with the renowned Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the highest in the [USA] in National Institutes of Health funding per investigator,” according to Mount Sinai.
