Several hundred invited guests joined leaders from the two organizations to celebrate the facility. The Heart Institute puts ECU and Pitt County Memorial Hospital “at the forefront of progress and the cutting edge of the future,” said Dr. W. Randolph Chitwood, director of the East Carolina Heart Institute.

“What we dedicate today is a concept called the East Carolina Heart Institute that encompasses these new facilities, dedicated to the people of this region, and to the physicians, researchers, educators and staff devoted to their care,” said Chitwood, who is chief of cardiothoracic surgery and vascular surgery in the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences at the Brody School of Medicine at ECU. He is also senior associate vice chancellor for health sciences at ECU.

The Heart Institute at Pitt County Memorial Hospital has 120 cardiovascular beds, six operating rooms, seven interventional laboratories, three electrophysiology labs and a heart-healthy cafeteria, all designed to create the optimal patient care environment