HOUSTON, TX – HCA Houston Healthcare is pleased to announce Hazim J. Safi, M.D., has joined Houston Heart located on the HCA Houston Healthcare Medical Center campus, effective Friday, October 1, 2021. Safi will serve as the Medical Director of Aortic Surgery for HCA Houston Medical Center and HCA Healthcare Gulf Coast Division. In this role, Safi will assist in developing a national thoracoabdominal program and will help guide quality and clinical outcomes at HCA Houston Healthcare Medical Center and across the HCA Healthcare Gulf Coast Division. Safi will also serve as a critical development leader helping to expand the footprint of service offerings in Houston and the South Texas region.
Safi joins Houston Heart from UTHealth, where he served as a professor and founding chair of cardiothoracic and vascular surgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth in Houston and chief of cardiothoracic and vascular surgery department at Memorial Hermann Heart & Vascular Institute. Safi is board certified in surgery, vascular surgery and thoracic surgery and specializes in cardiothoracic surgery, aortic surgery, thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms and vascular surgery. His clinical interests include:
- Abdominal aortic aneurysm repair
- Acute aortic dissection
- Aneurysms
- Aortic root
- Aortic valve preservation
- Aortic valve surgery
- Ascending and arch aneurysm
- Coronary artery bypass
- Marfan syndrome and thoracoabdominal aneurysm repair
“As a pioneer in the field of aortic emergencies and cardiovascular medicine, Dr. Safi’s experience and clinical acumen will expand our growing program exponentially at HCA Houston Healthcare Medical Center and across our division of 16 hospitals in the greater Houston area and beyond,” said Chris Osentowski, chief executive officer at HCA Houston Healthcare Medical Center. “Dr. Safi adds star power to an already elite medical staff that includes thought leaders across multiple service lines. His arrival increases the trajectory and mission for our facility to become the boutique surgical facility of choice for Houstonians.”
An accomplished lecturer and teacher, Safi has co-authored several book chapters and has authored over 200 scientific articles in medical journals. Many of Safi’s studies have significantly impacted the medical industry, helping improve surgical techniques for physicians worldwide. Safi was most recently recognized as a 2021 Top Doctor by Houstonia Magazine. This coveted list surveyed over 15,000 board-certified doctors in the Houston area. Safi is also a member of over 20 professional organizations, including the American College of Surgeons, American College of Chest Physicians, American College of Cardiology and The Southern Thoracic Surgical Association.
Safi’s education and medical accomplishments spans across three counties: Iraq, England and the United States. He earned his medical degree at the University of Baghdad College of Medicine and completed his general surgery rotation, internship and externship at Medical City Teaching Hospital in Baghdad and St. James Hospital in London, England. He concluded his postgraduate training in the early 1980s as a chief resident of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. He also completed his general surgical fellowship followed by his cardiothoracic residencies at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, studying under Dr. Michael DeBakey.