The Heart Center at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children has appointed Immanuel Turner, MD, as chief of pediatric and adult congenital cardiac surgery. Dr. Turner is board certified in congenital heart surgery, as well as adult cardiothoracic surgery. He replaces Steven Leonard, MD, who recently retired.
The Heart Center at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children offers comprehensive services and advanced procedures for children with common to complex heart conditions. “We are the only medical center in the Rocky Mountain region that can care for mother and baby under one roof,” says Dr. Washington, citing the hospital’s Level IV Center for Maternal-Fetal Health and the region’s largest Level IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Level IV centers provide the highest level of medical care for the sickest or most at-risk patients.
“Dr. Turner has vast experience—and exceptional outcomes—performing complicated heart procedures on the smallest patients,” says Reginald Washington, MD, chief medical officer of Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children (RMHC). “He worked and trained with the best surgeons at two of the country’s busiest pediatric heart programs. Families from across Colorado and nearby states can now benefit from the expertise he brings to The Heart Center.”
Dr. Turner specializes in the surgical treatment of congenital heart defects in neonates and infants, as well as teenagers who may not learn that they have a congenital heart condition until symptoms develop during adolescence. “I provide a continuum of care from infancy through childhood and into adolescence and adulthood,” Dr. Turner says. “And I focus on establishing collaborative relationships with families that last a lifetime. I realize that it’s scary to have a child undergo heart surgery. It’s important that families have trust and confidence in my abilities to help their child have a healthy life now and into adulthood.”
The Heart Center at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children offers highly complex surgical cardiovascular treatments including staged procedures to treat single ventricle heart defects like hypoplastic left heart syndrome and arterial switch operations to correct transposition of the great arteries.
Dr. Turner is part of a team of highly skilled pediatric heart specialists providing care at The Heart Center. “I work collaboratively with all of our subspecialists to come up with a care plan for the best possible long-term outcome. Whether that management involves an open surgical procedure or a hybrid procedure with our interventional cardiology colleagues, we have the capability to entertain all the latest options for optimal care” says Dr. Turner. The pediatric cardiac care team also includes intensivists and nurse practitioners.
Dr. Turner earned his medical degree at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and completed a general surgery residency at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. He went on to complete dual fellowship training in congenital cardiac surgery and adult cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor.
Learn more about Rocky Mountain Pediatric Heart Surgery and The Heart Center.