A Legacy of Community-Based Care

UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute interventional cardiologist and Ravenna native A. Roger Tsai, MD, has devoted his career to caring for the patients of UH Portage Medical Center. His service extends a family legacy that began with his father, Albert L. Tsai, MD, who was a beloved primary care physician in Ravenna for 35 years. “My father was deeply respected in our community,” said Dr. Tsai. “To work at UH Portage Medical Center, the same hospital where he cared for patients, is incredibly meaningful to me.”

The commitment of the Tsai family to the community inspired the creation of a new endowed position: the Heisler Family – A. Roger Tsai, MD, Master Clinician in Cardiology at UH Portage Medical Center. The position, made possible through the generosity of multiple donors, including lead support from the Heisler family and the Portage Medical Center Foundation will provide vital funding to advance the hospital’s cardiovascular initiatives under the direction of inaugural appointee Anjan Gupta, MD, Medical Director of Interventional Cardiology, UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute at UH Portage Medical Center. 

“My late husband, Yank, and I were raised in Ravenna,” shared Lynn Heisler. “Roger Tsai has been a longtime family friend and a trusted physician in our hometown for many years. For our family to help establish this position in his honor was particularly meaningful to us. Yank would be so proud that we made this gift.”

“We’re privileged to join the Heisler family in establishing this position, which recognizes Yank and his family for their ongoing support, and honors Dr. Tsai for the extraordinary mark he has made at UH Portage Medical Center,” said John R. Gusz, MD, a general surgeon in Ravenna affiliated with UH Portage Medical Center, and immediate past president of the Portage Medical Center Foundation.

Recruited in 1983 as the hospital’s first board certified cardiologist, Dr. Tsai created and quickly grew the cardiovascular program. Under his leadership, the hospital established its first echocardiogram lab, a nuclear cardiology program, a pacemaker clinic and its first diagnostic cardiovascular catheterization lab.

“Nearly 40 years later, our progress has not slowed. Our heart catheterization lab is now one of the busiest in the health system,” said Dr. Tsai. “Dr. Gupta’s appointment in 2016 as medical director of our interventional cardiology program has been critical to allowing us to meet this demand and better serve the cardiovascular needs of our community.”

UH Portage Medical Center’s Cardiac Catheterization Lab opened in November 2016 with the goal of completing 37 lifesaving cardiac-related procedures in its first year – instead, the medical team performed more than 200 within the first six months. “We expect to see 1,850 cases in 2019,” said Dr. Gupta, explaining that the hospital’s designation as a Level III trauma center is making UH Portage Medical Center the top choice for patients with cardiovascular emergencies. “This trend illustrates an immediate need to increase our capacity so that we can accommodate the patients of Ravenna and surrounding communities.”