Norton Children’s Heart Institute, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine, heart failure, cardiomyopathy and heart transplant team includes highly skilled providers in pediatric heart care. Our team includes specialists from many fields in addition to cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, including electrophysiology, critical care, anesthesia, infectious diseases, psychology and more. Your child will receive care focused on their overall health and wellness — not just their heart condition.

Pediatric Heart Failure, Cardiomyopathy and Transplant Program Team

• Joseph H. Hersh, M.D., genetics
• Christopher L. Johnsrude, M.D.,electrophysiology medical director
• Joshua Sparks, M.D., heart failure and transplant medical director
• Victoria A. Statler, M.D.,pediatric infectious diseases
• Sarah Wilkens, M.D., MPH
• Dustin W. Dillon, M.D., Hearts & Hands Care Team
• Courtney Smith, Ph.D., pediatric psychologist
• Mary T. Massey, APRN, heart failure transplant
• Jennifer D. Thomas, DNP, R.N., CCRN, transplant administrator
• Sara Chandler, transplant dietitian
• Jenna Walsh, LSW, transplant social worker
• Heather Damhoff, PharmD, transplant pharmacist
• Cassie Blandford, R.N., heart failure and transplant nurse clinician
• Emily Yates, R.N., heart failure and transplant nurse clinicians
• Teka Siebenaler, MPH, RRT, ECMO/VAD program manager

Why Choose Norton Children’s Heart Institute

No other congenital heart surgery program in Kentucky, Ohio or Southern Indiana is rated higher by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons than the Norton Children’s Heart Institute Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery Program.

• Norton Children’s Hospital has been a pioneer in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery, performing Kentucky’s first pediatric heart transplant in 1986 and becoming the second site in the United States to perform an infant heart transplant.
• Our board-certified and fellowship-trained pediatric cardiovascular surgeons are leaders in the field as clinicians and researchers.
• More than 5,000 children a year visit Norton Children’s Heart Institute, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine, for advanced heart care.
• Norton Children’s Heart Institute successfully performs more than 17,500 procedures a year.
• The Society of Thoracic Surgeons rated Norton Children’s Heart Institute among the best in the region after studying years of our patients’ outcomes and our ability to treat a range of pediatric heart conditions, including the most severe.
• Norton Children’s Heart Institute has satellite outpatient offices in Ashland, Bowling Green, Campbellsville, Elizabethtown, Frankfort, London, Madisonville, Murray, Owensboro, Paducah and Shepherdsville in Kentucky; as well as Corydon, Jasper, Madison and Scottsburg in Indiana; 28 tele-echocardiography locations in Kentucky and Southern Indiana; and six fetal echocardiography locations across Kentucky.
• The American Board of Thoracic Surgery has awarded the cardiothoracic surgeons at Norton Children’s Hospital with subspecialty certification in congenital heart surgery.
• The Jennifer Lawrence Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) is the largest dedicated CICU in Kentucky, equipped with 17 private rooms and the newest technology available for heart care .
• Our multidisciplinary approach to pediatric heart surgery brings together our specialists in cardiothoracic surgery, cardiology, anesthesiology, cardiac critical care and other areas to create a complete care plan tailored for your child.