Renowned Heart Surgeon Joins South Jersey Team

Virtua Health said on Aug. 4 that it appointed Ibrahim Sultan, MD, as vice president of clinical operations for its cardiovascular service line, adding a surgeon with a national profile in aortic, valve and structural heart care. The South Jersey health system said Sultan will help expand access to heart and vascular services across the region. Virtua’s physician directory lists him as accepting new patients in Cherry Hill and affiliated with Virtua Medical Group. Sultan previously spent about a decade at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC, where Virtua said he served as professor, chief of cardiac surgery and co-director of the Heart and Vascular Institute. ### Who is Ibrahim Sultan, and what is Virtua hiring him to do? Ibrahim Sultan is a board-certified, fellowship-trained cardiothoracic surgeon who now also holds an executive role overseeing clinical operations for Virtua’s cardiovascular service line, according to Virtua’s announcement and physician profile. Virtua said the appointment covers both patient care and service-line leadership as the system builds out heart and vascular programs in South Jersey. (virtua.org) Virtua’s profile says Sultan specializes in aortic aneurysms and dissections, heart valve disease, transcatheter heart valve therapies such as TAVR, and reoperative cardiac surgery. The same profile says he offers treatment options ranging from transcatheter procedures and minimally invasive surgery to complex open-heart operations, and welcomes second-opinion patients for aneurysms, valve repair and prior heart surgery. ### What did he do before arriving in South Jersey? (virtua.org) UPMC was Sultan’s prior base for roughly 10 years, according to Virtua, which said he served there as professor and chief of cardiac surgery and as co-director of the Heart and Vascular Institute. Virtua said that during that period he helped develop interdisciplinary programs for aortic disease, heart valve disease and structural heart conditions. Weill Cornell Medicine, The Johns Hopkins Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania are listed by Virtua as key stops in Sultan’s training. (doctors.virtua.org) Virtua said he earned his medical degree at Weill Cornell, completed his surgical internship and residency at Johns Hopkins, where he served as chief resident, and then completed advanced training in cardiothoracic surgery, aortic surgery and transcatheter and structural heart therapies at Penn. ### Why is his background drawing attention? Virtua’s physician profile says Sultan has authored more than 500 peer-reviewed publications in journals including The New England Journal of Medicine, JACC and Circulation. The profile also says he has delivered more than 200 lectures in the United States and abroad on aortic surgery, heart valve surgery and TAVR. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association are among the professional groups where Sultan has held leadership roles, according to Virtua. (doctors.virtua.org) Virtua’s Aug. 4 announcement separately described him as an internationally recognized cardiovascular surgeon. ### What does Virtua already have in place in cardiac care? Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Camden has been building specialized cardiovascular programs in recent years. (doctors.virtua.org) Virtua said in February 2024 that the hospital became credentialed as a Ventricular Assist Device facility and opened a new Advanced Heart Failure Center in Camden. Virtua also said recently that Our Lady of Lourdes has performed 1,000 transcatheter aortic valve replacement procedures since launching the program in 2013, making it one of only two South Jersey health systems to reach that mark. (virtua.org) In a separate update, Virtua said its structural heart team was the first in the region to perform a newer valve-replacement technique. ### Where will patients see him first? (virtua.org) Cherry Hill is the primary office listed on Virtua’s physician page for Sultan, at the Virtua Health & Wellness Center on Brace Road. Virtua-linked provider listings also show additional South Jersey practice locations in Voorhees, Hammonton, Moorestown and Sewell. Virtua’s heart-surgery service page says patients can receive heart surgery in South Jersey rather than traveling outside the region for care. (virtua.org) Virtua has not publicly detailed a separate rollout calendar for Sultan’s administrative agenda, but the system is already listing him for appointments as part of its cardiothoracic surgery network. (virtua.org) (doctors.virtua.org)