I am a cardiac surgeon and chief of Heart Transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support Programs at Memorial Cardiac & Vascular Institute. I care for patients with end-stage heart disease, including providing heart transplants and mechanical support for those with extensive heart disease. I also specialize in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), which provides prolonged cardiac and respiratory life support.

I grew up in south Texas, where many family members and people in the community had coronary disease but did not seek or receive adequate care. This led me to pursue a career in medicine, where I became enamored with the circulatory system, which centers around the heart.

For the past 25 years, I’ve devoted my career to advancing care and treatment options for people with heart and lung disease through education, research and training. I’ve helped build reputable clinical programs around the country and been a longtime educator, holding leadership positions at multiple institutions including Indiana University (Methodist Hospital), Harvard University (Massachusetts General Hospital), and the University of Maryland Medical Center. I was honored to be named one of “America’s Top Surgeons” for five consecutive years by the Consumer’s Research Council of America and served as principal investigator on numerous research studies.

Now, as leader of the Heart Transplant and Ventricular Assisted Device Programs at Memorial, I’m striving to increase the number of patients and families we can assist while ensuring the best quality care and experience for all. Throughout my career, I have transplanted approximately 300 hearts and 400 lungs and personally implanted more than 700 ventricular assist devices (VADs), which provide patients a bridge to transplant or treat those who aren’t heart transplant candidates.

When working with patients, I take the time to fully understand and evaluate their health and situation, and then provide a thorough, well-thought-out plan to be executed. I want patients and their loved ones to feel comfortable with me and our team, understand their options and have confidence in their care and treatment plan.

The most enjoyable part of my work is witnessing patients who were once extremely sick or at the end of life due to heart or lung failure and restoring their health and quality of life to the point that they can get back to enjoying daily normal activities. It’s the most gratifying part of what I do.

Hospital Affiliations

• Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital
• Memorial Hospital West
• Memorial Regional Hospital

Gender

• Male

Languages

• Spanish

Education

Harvard Medical School Harvard University, 1987

Residency

Brigham and Women's Hospital, 1995, Surgery
Brigham And Women's Hospital, 1998, Thoracic Surgery
Brigham And Women's Hospital, 1996

Fellowships

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 1999, Cardiothoracic Surgery

Certifications

American Board of Thoracic Surgery-Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery

Publications

Please view Dr. Jose P. Garcia’s publications on PubMed.

Professional Organizations

• Extracorporeal Life Support Organization
• Society of Thoracic Surgeons
• Heart Failure Society of America
• American Society for Artificial Internal Organs
• International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery
• International Society for Heart/Lung Transplantation (Pulmonary and MCS Councils)

Presentations

• Steiner J, Ennis S, Camuso J, Milley K, D’Alessandro D, Garcia JP, Lewis G. Predicting success – LVAD weaning protocol utilizing comprehensive cardiopulmonary exercise testing to define cardiac reserve capacity. ISHLT Washington DC, April 2016.
• Thomas SS, Lewis G, Semigran MJ, Rosenfield K, Gallagher RM, Steiner JK, Cudemus D, Gaston A, Roy N, Palacios IF, Elmariah S, Song TH, Garcia JP. Successful capture of LVADEmboli using carotid filters following intra-cavitary thrombolysis for pump thrombosis. ISHLT Washington DC, April 2016.
• Evrard SE, Milley K, Camuso JM, Schultz KE, English P, Song TH, Garcia JP. The Relationship between Staff Education and Mortality in Patients with ECMO. EuroELSO. Regensburg, Germany, May 2015.
• Thomas SS, Song TH, Milley K, Camuso J, McEachern K, Shah RV, Carroll BJ, Ennis S, MacGillivray TE, Baker JN, Semigran MJ, Lewis GD, Garcia JP. Outcomes in Patients with Venous Arterial Extra-Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation as a Bridge to Left Ventricular Assist Device Therapy. EuroELSO. Regensburg, Germany, May 2015.
• Anderson M, Goldstein J, Morris L, Milano C, Kormos R, Bhama J, Kapur N, Bansal A, Garcia J, Silvestry S, Holman W, O'Neill W. A Prospective Multicenter Study to Evaluate Safety and Probable Benefit of a Novel Percutaneous Ventricular Assist Device for Right Ventricular Failure: The RECOVER RIGHT Study. 35th ISHLT Annual Meeting. Nice, France, April 2015.
• Irwin L, Semigran M, Garcia J, Fishman J, Haggan C, Keck S. Decreasing Heart Transplant Surveillance Biopsies: A Model to Improve Patient Satisfaction, Safety, and Health Care Savings. Transplant Management Forum. San Diego, CA, April 2015.
• Mastrobuoni S, Poncelet A, Dell’Aquilla A, Jacqet L, Garcia J. Are Continuous-Flow Left Ventricular Assist Devices (CF-LVAD) on track to compete with Heart Transplantation? A propensity-score matched analysis of CF-LVAD versus Heart Transplant for patients in United Network for Organ Sharing status II (UNOS-II). Society of Thoracic Surgeons. San Diego, CA, January 2015.
• Carroll B, McCullough S, Shah R, Lewis G, Camuso J, Carlson W, Parks K, Moore S, NewtonCheh C, Sarswat N, Song T, Macgillivray T, Melnitchouk S, Sundt T, Semigran M, Baker J, Garcia J. Survival after VA ECMO Support is dependent on underlying etiology of cardiogenic shock. American Heart Association Scientific Session. Chicago, IL, November 2014.
• Mastrobuoni S, Dell’Aquilla A, Garcia J. Are Continuous-Flow Left Ventricular Assist Devices (CF-LVAD) on track to compete with Heart Transplantation? A propensity-score matched analysis of CF-LVAD versus Heart Transplant for patients in United Network for Organ Sharing status II (UNOS-II). American Heart Association Scientific Session. Chicago, IL, November 2014.

Awards

• America’s Top Surgeons – Consumer’s Research Council of America, 2011-15
• National Medical Fellowship – Harvard Medical School Academic achievement, 1985
• Howard B. Sprague Award – American Heart Association, Most Outstanding Surgical Research Grant, 1992
• Student Research Award – American Gastroenterological Association, Best Student Abstract, 1984
• Outstanding Young Texan Award – University of Texas at Austin, Overall community and academic achievement, 1979