What makes a hero? There are the more obvious heroes, like the ones who risk their lives to run into a burning building or to confront a criminal. Then there are the heroes who guard our health.

Take board-certified cardiologist Mark Goodwin, M.D., for example. So many patients with heart and vascular disease are told that traditional surgery is too risky. Others have no other alternative for treatment. They used to have to travel to get expert heart care. Not anymore.

Dr. Goodwin has been a driving force in bringing groundbreaking procedures, techniques and technology for fighting heart disease to patients in our community.

He heads up a nationally recognized heart program right here in Chicagoland, as System Medical Director of the Cardiac Innovations & Structural Heart Center^® at Edward-Elmhurst Health. He’s also the Medical Director of Cardiology at Edward Hospital.

Check out Dr. Goodwin’s other stats:

• He earned his medical degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
• He completed an internship, residency and fellowship at Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine.
• He is board-certified in internal medicine, and has subspecialty board certifications in cardiovascular disease, critical care medicine and endovascular medicine.
• He has more than 25 years of experience in cardiovascular care.
• He is an expert in renal denervation.
• He is renowned internationally for his expertise in the catheterization lab.

Dr. Goodwin oversees the Edward-Elmhurst Cardiac Innovations & Structural Heart Center, where he and a team of highly skilled cardiac experts perform lifesaving, highly specialized, complex heart procedures: 

Dr. Goodwin and the heart team offer TAVR (transcatheter aortic valve replacement) for patients with severe aortic stenosis, and MitraClip^® for patients with degenerative mitral regurgitation. Both minimally invasive procedures are for patients who are too high-risk or too sick for traditional open-heart surgery. We are one of the first community hospitals in the Chicago area to offer these procedures. We are No. 1 in the state for TAVR — we perform more TAVR procedures than any other healthcare provider in Illinois.

The heart team also offers the WATCHMAN^TM device, a first-of-its-kind implant alternative to treat atrial fibrillation (AFib) and reduce stroke risk without the need for medication. We are the first community hospital in the state to offer WATCHMAN and ranked second for the number of procedures performed (among non-academic providers). We’re also at the forefront of research related to WATCHMAN, and participate in several clinical trials.

We are one of the first hospitals in the Chicago area to implant the CardioMEMS™ device, a wireless heart failure monitoring system.

Dr. Goodwin and the heart team also routinely train other doctors from around the world on minimally invasive procedures that restore blood flow to the heart due to a blockage without open-heart surgery, making our heart hospital a global training site for the treatment of chronic total occlusions (CTOs) — arteries that have been blocked for several months to several years.

Dr. Goodwin is often able to offer options for patients who have been told there’s nothing that can be done. He, along with the rest of the heart team, provide the latest treatments that are the last hope for many heart patients — something rarely found in a community hospital setting. We are so grateful to have him!

You can depend on Dr. Goodwin and the rest of the heart team at Edward-Elmhurst Health to effectively treat your heart condition with a number of innovative options. Learn more about our innovations in cardiac care.

To find out if you’re at risk for heart disease, take our free five-minute test.