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Background & History
Prairie Heart Institute is a premier heart program created in 1994 as a joint venture between St. John's Hospital and Prairie Cardiovascular, formalizing a partnership forged more than ten years prior. But the true beginnings of the heart program reach back to the early 1960s when cardiologists Paul Smalley, M.D., and Robert Harp, M.D., set up an open-heart research lab in the basement of St. John's. After 18 months of intense practice and research, the medical team performed its first open-heart surgery in 1964. St. John's was on its way to becoming one of the pioneer open-heart surgery centers in the Midwest. 		 
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Over the years, many people helped develop the vision of Prairie Heart Institute and make it the major cardiovascular center it is today. One of these individuals is cardiologist James Dove, M.D., former president and founding partner of Prairie Cardiovascular. Dove was a key player in creating the Prairie Heart Institute. Says Dove, "From the start, this program has always focused on patients and quality. It is not only a good program; it is one of excellence. There is no heart program in Chicago or St. Louis that compares in size, quality or cost-effectiveness."

The success of the heart program is due, in large part, to the tremendous cooperative working relationship between St. John's, Prairie cardiologists and the cardiothoracic surgeons in Springfield. All share a mutual goal of excellence in the treatment of patients with cardiovascular disease.

Results and Recogntion

Research

Facility 

Questions?
Please call 217-544-6464, ext. 44574.