Children's Hospital Heart Surgery Program celebrates milestone 1,000 procedure

Batson Children’s Hospital’s congenital heart surgery program recently completed its 1,000th operation on four-month-old McKinley Davis of Waynesboro, who was released late yesterday.

Davis was born with a rare heart defect called Taussig-Bing syndrome requiring extensive complex operations. Her first operation, when she was a mere eight days old, partially corrected the defect. It was her April 12 surgery to replace a leaking heart valve that put her into the record books.

Batson’s congenital heart surgery program began in April 2010 with Dr. Jorge Salazar’s arrival as chief of congenital heart surgery. He and Dr. Daniel DiBardino, assistant professor of surgery and congenital heart surgeon, completed both of Davis’ operations along with a team of nurses,  anesthesiologists, respiratory therapists and cardiac intensivists.

Prior to Salazar’s arrival, a majority of Mississippi children with congenital heart defects – including all babies with complex defects – were sent out of the state for their operations.