Newton Memorial Hospital Announces
Addition of Pediatric Cardiologist

NEWTON - Newton Memorial Hospital recently announced that Joel T.. Hardin, MD, Director of Cardiology at Children’s Hospital of New Jersey at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, affiliates of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System, is treating patients at Newton Memorial Hospital as a consulting physician. Dr. Hardin is the first Pediatric Cardiologist ever to work as a consulting physician in Sussex County.

Dr. Hardin provides care for infants, children and adults with congenital heart defects at the Newton Memorial Hospital Cardiac Suite, the Charles L. Tice Heart Center for Diagnostic Services.  After reviewing diagnostic test results, he determines whether the patient can be treated close to home at Newton Memorial Hospital or requires transfer to another facility that offers highly specialized cardiac care.

“Until Dr. Hardin joined us, patients had to travel long distances to a specialized center to receive the care they needed,” said David Lazarus, MD, Newton Memorial Hospital Vice President of Medical Affairs.

“The Heart Center’s physical layout is very welcoming to patients and families,” Dr. Hardin said. “Its proximity to important diagnostic elements provides an integrated care system, yet it makes patients feel like they are in a doctor’s office, not a hospital.” 

In addition to his responsibilities at the Children’s Heart Center at Children’s Hospital of New Jersey, Dr. Hardin was recently appointed to the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services Cardiovascular Health Advisory Panel and is the only pediatric cardiologist on the panel. In 2007, he was appointed to the Board of Directors for the American Heart Association Northern New Jersey Region – Heritage Affiliate.

Dr. Hardin has authored several journal articles and book chapters in the field of pediatric cardiology, and has ongoing research interests in pediatric cardiac intensive care, cardiovascular pharmacology and heart failure management.

Dr. Hardin is a leader in New Jersey in establishing screening programs designed to identify young athletes who might be at risk for sudden cardiac death. He is a consultant pediatric cardiologist for hospitals across the state, and he volunteers service as Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, UMDNJ – New Jersey Medical School. He also serves as Medical Counsel and volunteer cardiologist for the Rotary Club International Gift of Life program, a charitable medical program providing cardiovascular surgery to children from countries where sophisticated and expensive medical care is not locally available. Dr. Hardin is a member of numerous professional societies including the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, American Academy of Pediatrics, Society of Critical Care Medicine and the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation.

“Newton Memorial has made a tremendous commitment to pediatrics for a community hospital of its size,” Newton Memorial Hospital President & CEO Tom Senker said. “The addition of Dr. Hardin to our consulting staff as a pediatric subspecialist augments an already strong group of local pediatricians, our inpatient pediatric hospitalists (who are in-house 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year) and several other pediatric specialists. His availability will enhance local access for those patients needing these specialty services.”

The Children’s Heart Center at Children’s Hospital of New Jersey has performed more pediatric cardiac surgery and interventional cardiac catheterization procedures – often involving extremely complex malformations - than any other hospital in New Jersey. The interventional cardiology team has more than 20 years experience in New Jersey’s largest single center for catheter-based treatment of complex congenital heart disease – in children and adults.  In its dedicated Pediatric Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, cardiologists have succeeded in treating an increasingly complex patient mix with zero mortality over the last six years.  The Center’s electrophysiology capabilities include cryoablation procedures, currently available only at the nation’s most progressive pediatric cardiac centers.  The cardiologists of the Children’s Heart Center are expert in applying the entire spectrum of state-of-the-art diagnostic capabilities including 3-D echocardiography, transesophageal echocardiography, stress echocardiography, fetal echocardiography, and cardiac MRI.   The Children’s Heart Center balances of expertise, technology, and a passion for excellence with family-centered care.

DATE: February 29 , 2008

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