After 3 years of discussion and planning, this academic center is currently in its final development stages. While wholly owned by Emory University, the University physician's group practice The Emory Clinic will be responsible for the physicians' time. There are currently 5 hospitals within the Emory system which will provide the personnel to form the center. The original discussions about forming a vascular center were based on a recognition of critical changes in the practice environment.
Vascular surgeons see their practice going in an endovascular direction.
Meanwhile, many interventional cardiologists have developed an interest in all aspects of vascular disease and see no reason why they shouldn't be involved in managing peripheral disease to supplement their practice and patient care. In designing what is hoped to be a unified multidisciplinary practice, one goal is to be able to offer fellows and residents in interventional cardiology, interventional radiology, and vascular surgery a much broader training program than would otherwise be possible. One driving force behind the development of the center has been the gauntlet patients have had to run for treatment. As Dr. Marshall explained, a patient coming to Emory Hospital is often cared for by multiple physicians in multiple areas within the hospital. Thus, centralization of services is one of the center's goals, which should lead to greater patient satisfaction and greater efficiency than is possible right now.