On June 12, the business community had an opportunity to “Meet the Media” in a panel discussion sponsored by the Greenwich Chamber of Commerce and White Plains Hospital. But it was also an opportunity for the community to get to know the hospital, whose parent company, Montefiore Einstein, has established a presence in Greenwich with Specialty Surgeons of Connecticut, across from the Hyatt Regency.
With recent reports on a shortage of pediatric beds, due to cost effectiveness, and on a distaste among some doctors for disabled patients gaining national attention, heart surgeon Robert E. Michler, M.D., has only one word for patients ”“ “welcome.”
“We are all about service and unparalleled care for our friends in Fairfield, Westchester and beyond,” he said.
The “we” he”™s referring to are the eight physicians, himself as director included, who make up Specialty Surgeons of Connecticut, an affiliate of Montefiore Einstein that opened Oct. 1 at 1455 E. Putnam Ave. in Greenwich, across from the Hyatt Regency Greenwich. The location of what he described as a “well-appointed, elegant office” is no coincidence.
“For decades I have been caring for patients from Fairfield and Westchester and hearing about their specific needs,” said Michler, who is surgeon-in-chief of Montefiore Einstein, professor and chair of its Department of Surgery and Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery and director of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Program at White Plains Hospital.
He knew eight or nine surgeons in other disciplines who were doing the same thing. So why not have one location, he thought, where patients can see them before and after their surgeries at one of the 11 Montefiore hospitals and ambulatory centers in the metro area? Those patients from out of town could stay at the Hyatt Regency.
From left, standing, Steven H. Borenstein, M.D., Oren M. Tepper, M.D., Anibal O. Puente, M.D., Jeffrey Indes, M.D., and Diego R. Camacho, M.D.
The doctors they are seeing at Specialty Surgeons are at the top of their game, Michler added. They include breast surgeon Maureen P. McEvoy, M.D.; plastic and reconstructive surgeons Oren M. Tepper, M.D., and Lawrence Draper, M.D.; pediatric surgeon Steven H. Borenstein, M.D.; vascular surgeon Jeffrey Indes, M.D.; minimally invasive and endoscopic surgeon Diego R. Camacho, M.D.; and general surgeon Anibal O. Puente, M.D.
What they all have in common is that patient care is paramount: “It is personal to us,” said Michler, whose specialties include complex cardiac surgery, heart transplants, valve repair, ventricular reconstruction for congestive heart failure and minimally invasive cardiac surgery. He”™s noted for being one of the first to perform”¯minimally invasive and robotic surgery in heart patients. Indeed, his pivotal work in robotics led to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of this technology for mitral valve repair”¯and coronary artery bypass surgery. He”™s also pioneered the safe use of injections of autologous human muscle cells (obtained from the patient) and stem cells into diseased heart muscle to treat heart failure.
As a member of the vanguard, Michler is following in the footsteps of his childhood hero, Christiaan Barnard, M.D. (1922-2001), the South African cardiac surgeon who performed the first human-to-human heart transplant on Dec. 3, 1967. Michler ”“who loved to work with his hands as a kid, taking watches apart ”“ can remember being 10 years old and poring over the Dec. 6, 1967 Life magazine cover story on Barnard on the living room floor of the family”™s San Diego home, his mother at his side. (Later, Michler said, “I had the pleasure to meet him and get to know him.”)
Inspired, Michler went off to Harvard University at age 17, graduating magna cum laude. He received his medical degree from Dartmouth Medical School, where he was a Leopold Schepp Scholar and met wife Sally, who was from Westchester County. (He proudly described her as “the CEO of the Michler family,” which includes three grown daughters, and a winner of the Spirit of Greenwich Award for volunteerism.)
Michler completed a residency in general surgery and fellowships in cardiothoracic surgery and transplantation at Columbia University and worked as chief resident of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery at Harvard Medical School, Boston Children’s Hospital. He was a tenured associate professor of surgery at Columbia University and director of cardiac transplantation at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. Most recently, Michler served as the John G. and Jeanne B. McCoy chair and chief of cardiothoracic surgery at Ohio State University, where he was key in building the Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital and was its first executive director.
The longtime Greenwich resident said, “it feels like I grew up here.” He recalled days with his family at the Riverside Yacht Club, where he still sails and plays tennis. He also enjoys golf, practicing what he preaches to patients and those who would stay out of a surgeon”™s office ”“ keep active and watch your weight.
“I”™m very fortunate,” he said. “I consider myself blessed.” And that”™s why, he added, his wants to give back to his beloved hometown and the surrounding area with this latest venture.
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