John Brown, MD, and Mark Turrentine, MD, both pediatric cardiovascular surgeons at Indianapolis-based Riley Hospital for Children, received a Sagamore of the Wabash award, which is Indiana's highest distinction, according to the IndyStar.
The awards ceremony was held Oct. 25. Dr. Turrentine nominated Dr. Brown for the prestigious award, but it wasn't until the ceremony that Dr. Turrentine found out he would also receive a Sagamore award.
"I was quite shocked," Dr. Turrentine told IndyStar.
Over the past 40 years, Dr. Brown and Dr. Turrentine performed about 25,000 heart procedures. Dr. Brown helped introduce advanced heart surgical techniques to Indiana, such as aortic valve replacements, and performed the state's first heart transplant in a teenager in 1986. Dr. Turrentine started working with Dr. Brown in 1991 and has performed an estimated 10,000 surgeries.
Riley Hospital's congenital heart surgery program has received a three-star rating from The Society for Thoracic Surgeons — a title that is held by only 12 of 119 such programs in the country.
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