Cedar City - Valley View Medical Center has announced the opening of the area's first heart clinic.

According to hospital administrator Jason Wilson, the Valley View Heart Clinic will provide "general cardiac care, including medical - not surgical - management of most cardiovascular issues, echocardiography, cardiac CT studies, nuclear stress tests, EKG studies, and cardiac rehabilitation."

Although some of these services have been available in the past, they have been limited because of the lack of a full-time cardiologist.

"We are thrilled to announce that cardiologist Dr. Aarush Manchanda will join our hospital team as medical director of the heart clinic," said Wilson. "Dr. Manchanda comes highly recommended, and has been recognized for his leadership in the field of non-interventional cardiology."

The opening of the Valley View Heart Clinic means that heart patients will be able to get the care they need on an ongoing basis here. It also means that patients arriving at the emergency department with chest pain can be diagnosed faster and with more accuracy - allowing those who need surgical intervention to be transported to a facility that provides interventional procedures and open-heart surgery sooner. Almost as important, those whose chest pains are caused by something other than heart trouble can be diagnosed at Valley View and spared an expensive and unnecessary trip to a larger hospital.

Dr. Manchanda is the former chief cardiology fellow at Geisinger Medical Center in Pennsylvania. He completed his residency at George Washington University and Veterans Affairs Hospital in Washington DC, where he was the 2007 Resident of the Year.

A native of New Delhi, India, who has also lived in Washington, D.C., Dr. Manchanda knows what it is like to work in a big city. After practicing the past three years in the smaller town of Danville, Penn., he has come to the conclusion that he enjoys medicine in a smaller community setting.

An open house for the new Valley View Heart Clinic will take place Tuesday from 4 to 6 p.m. at the clinic, located on the Valley View campus.

Dr. Manchanda will begin seeing patients Aug. 1. For an appointment or information about the Valley View Heart Clinic, call 868-5570.

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