UPMC Doctors and Their Patients Take Center Stage in the May Issue of Pittsburgh Magazine

UPMC physicians and their grateful patients are featured in Pittsburgh magazine’s annual “Top Doctors” listing found in the May issue. The special edition profiles the life-threatening health challenges faced by Merril Hoge, former Pittsburgh Steeler and ESPN football analyst, and the infant son of Fox News correspondent Catherine Herridge, and the close relationships they developed with the UPMC doctors who helped them through their ordeals.

“Our consistent ranking in the survey’s listing exemplifies UPMC’s quality and excellence and the compassion of our doctors, nurses and staff,” said Elizabeth Concordia, senior vice president, academic and community hospitals, UPMC, and president, UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside.

UPMC physicians ranked as ‘top doctors’ in all 38 of Pittsburgh magazine’s specialty categories. The Top Doctors listing includes a total of 97 UPMC physicians.

Stanley Marks, M.D., director of clinical services at UPMC Cancer Centers, included in the listing for his expertise in oncology, is highlighted in the magazine for the exemplary care he provided to Merril Hoge who was diagnosed with an aggressive and advanced lymphoma in 2005. After six months of treatment, Hoge was deemed cancer-free and continues to be monitored regularly by Dr. Marks for cancer recurrence.

The magazine also features UPMC transplant surgeons Amadeo Marcos, M.D., chief, division of transplantation at the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute and professor of surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and George Mazariegos, M.D., director of pediatric transplantation, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and associate professor of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. In dual surgeries in June 2006, the surgeons successfully removed a portion of Catherine Herridge’s liver and transplanted it into her infant son, Peter, who was born with liver disease. Fellow Fox News correspondent, Greta Van Susteren, chronicled the family’s experience in her broadcast news show, “On The Record.” Nearly one year after his transplant, Peter continues to thrive and develop as a toddler.

Pittsburgh magazine commissions the independent “Top Doctors” survey every year. The listing is compiled by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. whose physician-led research team follows a rigorous screening process to select top doctors on the national and regional levels. They identify highly skilled, exceptional doctors by evaluating their medical education, training and hospital appointments, and by surveying area hospital leaders and physicians.