Midwest Heart Specialist Offers Expanded Services to Northwest Suburbs

March 18, 2002
Downers Grove, IL
Midwest Heart Specialists, one of the largest private cardiology practices in Illinois has merged with Northwest Cardiology, a group that services the northwest suburbs of Chicago.

This decision merges Midwest Heart Specialists cardiologists from Chicago southwest suburbs and Northwest Cardiology’s northwestern suburb locations, making Midwest Heart Specialists one of the largest private specialty practices in the country. The business journal Crain’s recently ranked Midwest Heart Specialists in the top 25 of Chicago’s largest physician groups. With the addition of these four cardiologists, and their three offices Midwest Heart Specialists will have 42 cardiologists on staff, medical staff privileges at nine hospitals, eight office locations and four satellite offices.

“Heart disease is our nation’s no. 1 killer of men and women,” said Dr. Bufalino, president and CEO of Midwest Heart Specialists. “Our aim in this merger, was to provide residents of the Chicago suburbs, an integrated, strong and united cardiology practice accessible from the Wisconsin state line, all the way south to Aurora, Illinois.

The change in company ownership and leadership will not affect the patients of either Midwest Heart Specialists or Northwest Cardiology.

“During this merger, our emphasis was on the patient,” noted Dr. Bufalino. “We were committed in ensuring that patients of Northwest Cardiology would not lose access to their cardiologists, the locations or insurance plans. Rather the change has brought growth for both companies.”

Patients with Northwest Cardiology can expect an increase in services and access to new technologies in treating heart disease over the next 12 months.

“While we were able to provide Midwest Heart Specialists expanded geographic coverage, said Arthur Nazarian, MD, a founding cardiologist at Northwest Cardiology, “Midwest Heart Specialists was able to offer us the opportunity to participate in leading research trials, expansion of services, such as electrophysiology and a strengthened infrastructure, including an Electronic Medical Record System.”

The new service area for Midwest Heart Specialists will now cover more than 1,500 square miles – approximately the size of Rhode Island. Geographic coverage will range from Aurora to Wisconsin, north – south and Elmhurst to Kishwaukee, Illinois, east-west. Services offered to patients will include leading cardiodiagnostic testing services, peripheral vascular disease treatment, interventional cardiology, electrophysiology, congestive heart failure and cholesterol and hypertension management.