Spectrum Health Announces New Leader for Heart and Lung Transplant Program

Theodore Boeve, MD, Named Richard DeVos Endowed Director for Heart & Lung Transplant Surgery and Mechanical Circulatory Support as Dr. Asghar Khaghani Retires

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., May 1, 2017 – Spectrum Health today announced the retirement of one key physician leader and the promotion of another.

Asghar Khaghani, MD, FRCS, will retire as Richard DeVos Endowed Director for heart and lung transplant surgery and mechanical circulatory support with the Spectrum Health Richard DeVos Heart and Lung Transplant Program.

Khaghani, an internationally-recognized cardiothoracic surgeon, joined Spectrum Health from the United Kingdom in 2010. With more heart transplant surgery experience than any other physician in the world, he founded the organ transplant program at the Fred and Lena Meijer Heart Center. The program and its success have established Spectrum Health as a destination for world-class transplant care.

“Dr. Khaghani has played a pivotal role in Spectrum Health’s history, I cannot thank him enough for bringing his incredible skill to West Michigan and mentoring other physicians in the complexities of transplant surgery,” said Tina Freese Decker, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Spectrum Health. “The impact Dr. Khaghani has made on our community, region, state and nation will be felt for generations.”

Theodore J. Boeve, MD, FACS, FCCP, a cardiothoracic surgeon who joined Spectrum Health’s medical staff in 2005, became section chief of cardiac surgery in 2015. He will succeed Khaghani as Richard DeVos Endowed Director of heart and lung transplant surgery and mechanical circulatory support with the Spectrum Health Richard DeVos Heart and Lung Transplant Program.

Boeve has served as a leader in several areas of the cardiovascular department. He is also a clinical assistant professor of surgery at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Grand Rapids campus.

“I have been mentoring Dr. Boeve in this field for the last four years, and I am delighted to say he is a very accomplished and experienced cardiothoracic surgeon,” said Khaghani. “He is experienced in transplantation and VAD surgery as well as post-operative care of patients. He is also a good mentor to other surgeons, and I am sure he will be an excellent senior colleague to other leaders. I feel happy and confident that I am leaving the program in capable hands.”

Boeve graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School and completed residencies in general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery at The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. He completed a research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

He has published and presented widely on cardiology, cardiovascular disease and cardiothoracic surgery.

Both transitions are effective May 1, 2017.

Spectrum Health performed its first heart transplant in 2010 and its first lung transplant as well as its first combined heart and lung transplant in 2013. The program has completed 88 heart transplants, 82 lung transplants and two combined heart/lung transplants to date.

Spectrum Health offers the only full-service advanced heart failure and ventricular assist device (VAD) program in the region. VADs do the work for hearts that are not strong enough to function on their own. These mechanical devices are often used by patients while they await a heart transplant, or sometimes provide a better quality of life and enable patients to avoid transplantation. The Spectrum Health Heart and Lung Specialized Care Clinics treat more than 1,300 patients each year.

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