Michigan Adult Congenital Heart Center
All Congenital Heart Patients Need a Lifetime of Care
Adult congenital heart patients include individuals 18 years and older who were successfully diagnosed and treated as children, as well as those adults who are diagnosed with heart defects for the first time. As children with heart disease grow older, they are at risk for re-intervention for variety of reasons such as valve problems, heart failure, heart infection, stroke, arrhythmia, and heart block, so they require ongoing monitoring and highly specialized care throughout their lives.
The physicians on staff at the DMC’s Michigan Adult Congenital Heart Center (MACH), work together to provide multi-disciplinary care for adults with congenital heart disease. MACH physician combines the expertise of congenital heart disease in adults and cardiovascular surgeons who specialize in the health needs of adults with congenital heart disease.
DMC’s Michigan Adult Congenital Heart Center Provides Comprehensive Expertise
The Michigan Adult Congenital Heart Center (MACH) provides diagnostic, medical, surgical and non-surgical treatments. As a regional center serving patients throughout Michigan and beyond, MACH’s multidisciplinary specialists on staff provide the most comprehensive and coordinated care available for adult congenital heart disease patients. Specialists include Pooja Gupta, M.D., one of the first clinicians in the nation to be admitted to practice as a sub-specialist in the treatment of adults who survive congenital heart disease.
MACH is a joint program of the Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Harper University Hospital and Hutzel Women’s Hospital. The services are conveniently located on one campus in Detroit’s midtown cultural medical center. Highly experienced physicians care for these patients as they get older, get pregnant and potentially develop time or age-related complications or special health needs.
The program includes consultation with high-risk maternal fetal medicine specialists, fetal echocardiographers and geneticists who evaluate the potential hereditary aspects of congenital heart disease. Each year, MACH physicians care for congenital heart patients at more than 800 visits.
Specialty Care Coordinated with Primary Care Physician
The Michigan Adult Congenital Heart Center (MACH) specialists on staff are committed to ongoing communication with the patient’s primary care physician to provide effective, coordinated treatment. The primary care physicians receive a detailed consult report within one week of the first visit to the MACH clinic and regular follow-up reports. MACH patient visits are coordinated in such a way that they see the same physician and nurse coordinator for each appointment to provide continuity of care and better service.
Easy Access to Appointments and Information
After the first appointment is scheduled; a registration packet will provide information about which medical records to bring to the clinic, directions and parking information. In addition, a nurse coordinator will call to answer any questions.
During the first MACH clinic visit, a folder containing relevant information about the clinic set up and contact information for MACH physicians and nurses along with Personal Medical Passport is provided. This passport should be filled out and carried by the individual patient at all times for immediate access to important health information for the patient themselves, family and other healthcare providers. Appointments at the MACH clinic can be made by calling 1-877-344-MACH (6224).