Top Rated Lung Center Expands

Norton Thoracic Institute Doctors Now in East Valley

Home to the top rated lung transplant program in the western United States, Norton Thoracic Institute recently expanded its services in the Valley.  Headquartered in downtown Phoenix at Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, physicians from the renowned lung and esophageal center are now seeing patients in the East Valley at Dignity Health Chandler Regional Medical Center.

With several new doctors on board, Norton Thoracic Institute specializes in the evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the lungs, chest or esophagus.

"This program has grown significantly, in a rather short amount of time. We have patients who come to Norton from around the world," says Ross Bremner, MD, Norton Thoracic Institute's executive director. "Expanding into both the East and West Valley is a natural progression for us. It allows our experts to continue providing excellent and innovative care for our patients who cannot drive downtown to St. Joseph's."

The Norton Thoracic Institute surgeons practicing at Chandler Regional are Shair Ahmed, MD, Samad Hashimi, MD, and Chirag Patel, MD. The doctors provide in-patient surgical services and diagnostic testing.  They will also see patients in Dignity Health's Comprehensive Cancer Clinic in the East Valley.

Dr. Ahmed earned his medical degree from the University of Arizona College of Medicine and completed a residency in general surgery at the Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. He specializes in in lung transplantation, benign and malignant esophageal disease, and lung cancer. Specializing in cardiothoracic surgery using minimally invasive and robotic approaches, Dr. Hashimi earned his medical degree at the University of Iowa, where he also completed a residency in general surgery and a fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery. Dr. Patel's clinical specialties include lung transplantation, lung cancer, esophageal disease, and esophageal cancer. He earned his medical degree from the University of Arizona in Tucson, and then completed his residency at St. Joseph's.

In 2015, Norton Thoracic Institute was ranked the second busiest lung transplant program in the country with shorter than average wait times and above average one-year survival rates. Since opening in 2007, its lung transplant team has performed more than 450 lung transplants for patients from more than 30 different states. Norton Thoracic also provides a second opinion service for lung cancer patients, conducts groundbreaking research, and trains young physicians to improve patients' outcomes.