Saint Thomas Hospital officials announced today Dr. Evelio Rodriguez has joined Saint Thomas Heart as director of minimally invasive and robotic cardiac surgery and director of arrhythmia surgery.

A board-certified cardiothoracic surgeon, Rodriguez joins Saint Thomas Heart after serving as associate medical director of the arrhythmia center at East Carolina Heart Institute at Pitt County Memorial Hospital and associate professor of Cardiovascular Sciences at East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine.

“Evelio comes to us at a time of growth and evolvement for our program and will provide Saint Thomas Hospital with sound leadership as the specialty transforms,” Dawn Rudolph, president and CEO at Saint Thomas Hospital, said in a release. “We have added two hybrid operating rooms for cardiac and vascular procedures and robotic surgery capabilities. We are fortunate to have such an experienced, dedicated and well-respected physician join our network of cardiologists and cardiac surgeons.”

Rodriguez (pictured here) received his medical degree from Albany Medical College. He completed his general surgery residency, cardiothoracic research and cardiothoracic surgery residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He also completed postgraduate fellowships at East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine in minimally invasive and robotic cardiac surgery and at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in congenital cardiac surgery.