Surprise baby graduates from life-saving congenital heart program

Alice Stanca, a 15-month-old from Surprise, recently turned her tassel at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center.

Alice, along with 18 other pediatric patients, recently graduated from a congenital heart program which helped save her life.

The Complex Congenital Heart Infant Evaluation and Follow-up Program (CHIEF) is designed to monitor infants born with heart conditions. The graduates underwent as many as five surgeries before age 1 to fix their hearts.  

“Our No. 1 concern is the lifespan of our patients,” said Dr. Stephen Pophal, chief of pediatric cardiology at St. Joseph’s Scott and Laura Eller Congenital Heart Center. “We want to ensure our infants make it to the toddler stage, childhood and adulthood, so we must be hyper vigilant and anticipate problems before they become unmanageable – which is exactly what the CHIEF program does.”

St. Joseph’s was the first to offer this type of congenital heart program in the Southwest. In addition to offering patients a state-of-the-art unit and surgeons capable of performing the most complex procedures, one of the standout elements of the CHIEF program is its commitment to continuity of care and open lines of communication with all involved parties, including parents, pediatricians and physicians.

“We have monitored these patients throughout their course of treatment, ensuring that all involved parties, including parents and pediatricians, are well-informed and kept in the loop regarding every step of a sometimes very scary process,” said Beth Rumack, NNP-BC, fetal and neonatal cardiac nurse practitioner and CHIEF program coordinator. “We are elated to celebrate the graduation of our congenital heart patients and their families who have all worked so hard to get to this point.”

Each of the 18 congenital heart patients were recognized at the graduation and received a diploma, hat and tassel.