Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States—and in Southwest Florida, the Lee Health Heart Institute (LHHI) is rethinking how it’s treated. Over the past year, the healthcare system has recruited 18 new cardiologists, launched programs in cardio-oncology and maternal heart health and broken ground on an estimated $500 million medical campus.
At the center of the health system’s expansion is an ambitious and urgent vision: manage heart disease earlier, treat it more precisely and keep patients, even those even with complex conditions, close to home.
After transitioning from a public to a private nonprofit in late 2024, Lee Health gained the ability to reinvest revenue directly into what the community needs most. Along with oncology and musculoskeletal care, cardiovascular care rose to the top—especially in underrepresented fields like cardio-oncology, cardio-obstetrics and advanced heart failure.
Lee Health’s chief medical officer, Dr. Ian Gonsenhauser, says the initiative aims to harness rapidly evolving diagnostic and therapeutic technologies to address two core concerns in Southwest Florida: an aging population with complex, chronic heart conditions and a rising number of people under 40 developing serious cardiac issues.
The institution’s efforts are already earning national attention. In 2025, Lee Health’s HealthPark Medical Center was named one of the nation’s top 50 cardiovascular programs—for the third consecutive year. They also received the Million Hearts award for their preventative care and access efforts—getting resources into underserved communities, like the more than 750 mothers reached for hypertension support.
The strongest proof of progress is in the physicians shaping what comes next. In the past year, Lee Health has added a cardio-obstetrician, Dr. Kelly Costopoulos-Bass, to integrate heart care into every stage of pregnancy and postpartum months. Imaging specialists Dr. Shant Manoushagian and Dr. Juan Gaztanaga joined from NYU Langone Health, and this summer brings a new chief physician executive, Dr. Daniel O’Hair, a leader in robotic-assisted mitral valve repair. Together, they’re part of a growing roster redefining heart care on the Gulf Coast.
Meet four of the standout minds driving the transformation.
Dr. Katherine Lietz: Transforming Advanced Heart Failure Care
One of the most prevalent yet misunderstood conditions in cardiology is heart failure. For patients, it often means years of fragmented care: ER visits, a revolving cast of specialists and medications. Dr. Katherine Lietz arrived at Lee Health to change that.
The Advanced Heart Failure Program launched with Lietz’s arrival in 2024—through it, she debuts the region’s first Advance Heart Failure Clinic in 2026 at HealthPark Medical Center. Today, locals with complex diagnoses, like cardiac amyloidosis, postpartum cardiomyopathy or sarcoidosis, must travel to Miami or Tampa for specialized care. The new facility brings diagnostics, medications, left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) coordination and advanced therapies under one roof—offering a continuum of care that rarely exists outside major metropolitan hospitals.
With three decades of experience in clinical practice and research, Lietz offers the rare blend of scientific rigor, organizational leadership and clinical insight needed to build a program of this scale. The Polish-born doctor trained at Columbia University and the University of Minnesota and has been published in the American Heart Association’s scientific journal Circulation and The New England Journal of Medicine.
Most notably, she co-developed the Lietz-Miller Risk Score—a tool now used nationwide to identify candidates for LVADs, mechanical pumps that support patients with advanced heart failure. Her contributions were cited in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ decision to approve reimbursement for LVAD therapy in 2009—a pivotal shift in national care standards.
Since then, Lietz has helped establish artificial heart programs at major institutions and chaired the first international guidelines for selecting patients for heart pump implantation. Most recently, she played a key role in clinical trials supporting the HeartMate 3, now the most widely used LVAD in the U.S.
At Lee Health, Lietz is focused on translating her expertise into long-term, relationship-driven care. When the center opens later this year, it will offer consistent, connected care to patients facing the most demanding cardiac diagnoses. “I accompany my patients on their journey with heart failure throughout their lifetime,” Lietz says.
Photography by Brian Tietz
lee health swfl heart health care dr katherine lietz
This fall, Dr. Katherine Lietz leads the launch of Southwest Florida’s first Advanced Heart Failure Clinic, bringing coordinated diagnostics and therapies under one roof.
Dr. Juan Lopez-Mattei: Reading the Heart in High-Resolution
Cardiac imaging is often treated as a diagnostic checkpoint; for Dr. Juan Lopez-Mattei, it’s the foundation of preventative cardiac care. “Imaging isn’t just about what we see,” he says. “It’s about what that image is telling us—about where a patient’s heart has been, and where it might be going.”
Since joining Lee Health in 2022, Lopez-Mattei has served as medical director of cardiac imaging, overseeing a department that supports nearly every branch of the Heart Institute—from structural interventions to cardio-oncology. With tools like high-resolution cardiac CT, MRI and echocardiography, his team can detect disease before symptoms appear. AI-powered platforms like Cleerly and EchoGo help identify plaque buildup in asymptomatic patients, early-stage valve disease and subtle signs of heart failure that traditional testing might miss.
Before coming to Southwest Florida, Lopez-Mattei spent nearly a decade at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where he helped define national best practices in cardio-oncology and advanced cardiovascular imaging at one of the nation’s top oncology institutions. Today, he continues shaping the field on a global scale through leadership roles with the American College of Cardiology and Inteleos, the global nonprofit that certifies doctors in advanced imaging techniques.
At Lee Health, that mission extends beyond hospital walls. Lopez-Mattei has worked with other LHHI teams on regional outreach efforts to increase early detection, from mobile screening units in underserved communities to calcium scoring initiatives for Lee Health employees to detect early coronary artery disease. It’s all connected: better images, earlier answers and smarter care.
Photography by Brian Tietz
lee health swfl heart health care dr juan lopez mattei
After nearly a decade at the renowned MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dr. Juan Lopez-Mattei now leads cardiac imaging at Lee Health, using high-resolution tools and AI to detect heart disease earlier and guide smarter, system-wide care.
Dr. Nabeel Memon: Intervening with Precision and Restraint
At the Shipley Cardiothoracic Center—Lee Health’s hub for heart surgery—patients with severe valve disorders or other structural abnormalities affecting the heart’s walls, chambers or blood flow often arrive with nowhere else to go. Some have been turned away from other institutions, deemed too old or too high-risk for standard procedures. Some come with complications from surgeries performed elsewhere.
But in Dr. Nabeel Memon, they find a specialist unafraid of complexity. One of the center’s newest recruits, Memon arrived from Chicago in February 2025 to lead Shipley’s Structural Heart Program. His team performs minimally invasive procedures that once required open-heart surgery: transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), MitraClip for mitral valve repair and implantation of the WATCHMAN device, which helps prevent strokes in patients with atrial fibrillation. These catheter-based interventions are done through small incisions, often allowing patients to return home the same day.
Memon’s style is measured, intentional—guided by his philosophy of ‘precision restraint.’ “The best procedures are often the ones we choose not to perform,” he says.
Backed by advanced imaging and AI-powered diagnostics, he and his team review cases collaboratively—balancing risk, necessity and long-term outcomes. The result is fewer complications, shorter recoveries and care that prioritizes quality of life—doing what’s necessary, not simply what’s possible.
Photography by Brian Tietz
lee health swfl heart health care dr nabeel memon
“The best procedures are often the ones we choose not to perform,” says Dr. Nabeel Memon, who joined the Heart Institute in February 2025 as medical director of the Structural Heart Program.
Dr. Xiangkun (Kevin) Cao: Protecting Hearts in Cancer Care
Two decades ago, cardio-oncology was barely a recognized specialty. Today, it’s one of Lee Health’s fastest-growing programs—and the only one of its kind in the region, led by Dr. Xiangkun (Kevin) Cao’s vision.
Cao—a proud Gator who graduated from the University of Florida College of Medicine—treats patients at the intersection of two high-risk conditions: heart disease and cancer. His role is to prevent cardiac damage from chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy—working in tandem with oncologists to adjust treatment plans and preserve long-term heart health. “The number one cause of death for cancer survivors is heart disease,” he says. “That’s something we can often prevent—if we catch it early.”
His team uses tools like cardiac MRI and strain imaging to detect cardiotoxic effects before symptoms begin. Some of his patients require cross-hospital coordination, leading to his collaboration with other hospital systems across the country and beyond. “We’ve had patients fly in from Latin America, the Caribbean or New York without any follow-up in place after cancer treatment,” he says. “In many countries, there’s no infrastructure for cardiac monitoring during oncology care. We take over where others left off.”
That commitment extends beyond diagnostics. Cao’s team follows up after hours, schedules same-day visits and makes sure no question goes unanswered. “This is the kind of program I wish had existed when members of my own family were going through cancer,” he says. “We built it to close the gaps.”
Photography by Brian Tietz
lee health swfl heart health care dr kevin xiangkun
“The number one cause of death for cancer survivors is heart disease—that’s something we can often prevent,” —Dr. Xiangkun (Kevin) Cao, the region’s first and only cardio-oncologist, says.