Thad F. Waites, M.D., a Hattiesburg Clinic Southern Heart Center cardiologist and Forrest General Hospital’s Cardiac Catheterization Lab medical director, was recently elected to serve as the Chairman of the Board of Governors for the American College of Cardiology.  Waites currently serves as the Governor for the state of Mississippi on the ACC Board of Governors and is also the President of the Mississippi Chapter of the ACC.

 “One of the current focuses of the American College of Cardiology is reformation of a healthcare system that places an emphasis on the patients paying for quality care rather than quantity care,” said Waites. “I view serving in this position as being at the pinnacle of my career.”

Waites will serve as Chairman-elect of the Board of Governors beginning in March of 2010, Chairman in 2011, and past Chairman in 2012. His duties include the oversight of more than 50 Governors. These representatives of the U.S., Armed Services, Canada and Puerto Rico were elected based on their credentials, achievements and contributions to cardiovascular medicine in an organization that is made up of more than 37,000 members.

“It is a great honor for Hattiesburg Clinic, the Southern Heart Center, and our community and state, to have a physician elected to this prestigious position during such a critical time in our nation’s health care system,” said Ken Smith, administrator of the Southern Heart Center.  “Dr. Waites is most deserving of this honor which was bestowed upon him by his peers.”

Waites attended the University of Mississippi School of Medicine in Jackson, Miss., and completed an internship at Emory University, Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Ga. He completed his residency at the University of Colorado in Denver, Colo.  Waites served as chief resident and as a fellow in cardiology at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Ga. He was a staff member of the Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans, La. prior to joining the Southern Heart Center.

For information about Hattiesburg Clinic's Southern Heart Center, call 601-268-5800.