ATHENS, Ga. — Hiren Patel, MD, a board-certified interventional cardiologist, is joining Oconee Heart and Vascular Center (OHVC) and St. Mary’s Medical Group effective Aug. 1.

Dr. Patel will provide outpatient cardiovascular care from wellness to long-term follow-up care at the main OHVC office at 2470 Daniells Bridge Road, as well as non-emergency and emergency procedures at St. Mary’s Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory within St. Mary’s Hospital on Baxter Street in Athens.

Dr. Patel was born in Zambia and grew up in South Carolina. He studied pre-med at Middlesex College and University of South Carolina Upstate. His interest in global health lead him to pursue medical training internationally, in Netherlands Antilles, Georgia, and Ohio through Avalon University School of Medicine. Thereafter, he completed his internal medicine residency in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at Baton Rouge General Medical Center/Tulane University School of Medicine, where he also served as Chief Resident. He then completed a cardiovascular disease fellowship and an advanced interventional cardiology and structural heart disease fellowship in Albany, New York at Albany Medical Center/Albany Medical College.

Interventional cardiology is the specialty of providing care for the heart through the use of long flexible tubes called catheters. In these procedures, a catheter is inserted into a large blood vessel in the leg or arm and guided through blood vessels to the inside of the heart. There, the catheter can be used to deploy tools to treat conditions such as heart attack, angina (chest pain) and certain kinds of irregular heart rhythm. Balloon angioplasty and stent implantation for heart attack treatment is an example of interventional cardiology. St. Mary’s is certified as a chest pain center by the American College of Cardiology.

In addition to certification in cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology, Dr. Patel is board certified in the imaging specialties of nuclear cardiology and echocardiography. He also is board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine.

During his work at Albany Medical College, he received the Dr. Joseph T. Doyle Endowed Cardiology Award, which is awarded to a fellow in cardiology who demonstrates outstanding passion for patient care and prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Patel is married to Charmi Patel, MD, an allergy, asthma, and immunology specialist who also is joining St. Mary’s Medical Group in August.

For more information about OHVC, please visit www.stmaryshealthcaresystem.org/.