The Pocono Medical Center's ESSA Heart and Vascular Institute is affiliated with Penn Cardiac Care of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, one of the nation's pre-eminent academic medical centers. The affiliation enables emergency cardiac transplant and adult congenital patients to be treated expeditiously.

The affiliation also serves as an extension of Pocono Medical Center's continuing education program for physicians, nurses and staff. Pocono Medical Center and the University of Pennsylvania Health System have worked together to plan policies and procedures, set up systems for the new program and to offer continuing education. Pocono Medical Center will also have the opportunity to participate in clinical trials through the affiliation.

At this time, our operating rooms are not fitted with the specialized equipment to perform heart transplants and adult congenital surgery, so the relationship with the University of Pennsylvania Health System will help save lives when we have those types of cases- Nche Zama, MD, PhD, chief of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery at Pocono Medical Center

• Pocono Medical Center began performing diagnostic cardiac catheterizations in May of 2006. In February of 2007, the first open-heart surgeries were performed, and in March the first angioplasties. In total, over 700 cardiac procedures have been performed in the ESSA Heart and Vascular Institute.

• PENN Medicine is a $2.9 billion enterprise dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and high-quality patient care. PENN Medicine consists of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

• Penn's School of Medicine is ranked #2 in the nation for receipt of NIH research funds; and ranked #3 in the nation in U.S.News & World Report's most recent ranking of top research-oriented medical schools. Supporting 1,400 fulltime faculty and 700 students, the School of Medicine is recognized worldwide for its superior education and training of the next generation of physician-scientists and leaders of academic medicine.

• The University of Pennsylvania Health System includes three hospitals [Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, which is consistently ranked one of the nation's few "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S.News & World Report; Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's first hospital; and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center]; a faculty practice plan; a primary-care provider network; two multispecialty satellite facilities; and home care and hospice.