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| W. Johnson Hardy III, M.D. |
USA Health is expanding its surgical services with the addition of W. Johnson Hardy III, M.D., the first fellowship-trained vascular surgeon employed at the health system for the University of South Alabama.
As a vascular surgeon, Hardy treats a wide range of issues related to a patient’s arterial, venous, and lymphatic systems, including aortic aneurysms and dissections, carotid artery disease for stroke, renal and mesenteric artery disease, pulselessness in the arms and legs, claudication and non-healing wounds, varicose veins, blood clots, and lower extremity swelling. He also manages access for dialysis, creates access for chemotherapy treatment, and performs amputations.
In addition to his clinical duties, Hardy holds an appointment as assistant professor of surgery at the Whiddon College of Medicine and will play a key role in making sure that patients at USA Health have access to leading-edge and state-of-the-art treatment options for vascular disease. As a staff surgeon at a teaching hospital, he will also be involved in resident education, and in introducing the next generation of surgeons to the discipline of vascular surgery.
“USA Health consistently produces surgeons of the highest caliber and quality, who are among the most well-trained, skillful, and thoughtful of any in the Southeast,” Hardy said. “I'm excited to be part of that.”
A graduate of both the Whiddon College of Medicine and the general surgery residency at USA Health, Hardy said returning to the program is like coming home. “I was here for nine years. The relationships I built over that time are irreplaceable, and I get to work alongside colleagues and mentors who are among my closest friends, whom I trust completely. That's exciting!” he said. “There is nowhere else I would rather be."
Originally from Auburn, Hardy became interested in medicine as a teenager when he discovered an old surgical text in his local public library. “There was a workmanship illustrated by those old operative diagrams that fascinated me, and vascular surgery ended up being the ultimate fulfilment of that early appeal,” he said.
Hardy finished his vascular surgery training at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi, and is one of five surgeons who recently returned to Mobile and USA Health after completing advanced fellowship training. All five completed their general surgical residencies here, and four of the five new surgeons graduated from the Whiddon College of Medicine. During his final year of residency, Hardy was awarded the Charles B. Rodning Par Excellence Surgical Chief Award.
He chose to join an academic health system because such systems are equipped to manage the most surgically complex patients, offering institutional and specialty support not always available in other healthcare systems, he said. “Being able to perform highly complex and innovative vascular surgery, in a supportive clinical environment – while also working with residents and being involved in their development and education as future surgeons – is without a doubt the greatest draw toward an academic practice."
His research interests include outcomes for patients undergoing complex endovascular aortic repair, a minimally invasive procedure being used to treat increasingly complex aneurysmal disease in patients who are often poor candidates for traditional open surgical repair. “That’s an area that is expanding rapidly in both technology and techniques available for treatment, many of which seem quite promising,” he said. “Methods to optimize vascular access for those cases are also very interesting.”
Outside of work, Hardy enjoys volunteering with the Christian Medical Ministry of South Alabama, an activity he began during his first year of medical school and continued throughout residency, and with the medical school's Wilderness Medical Society. He has been on mission trips to Peru and Rwanda and has led numerous trips into the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, which he describes as “one of my absolute favorite places in the world.” He is married with two daughters and enjoys hunting, fishing, and camping.
Hardy will perform surgery at USA Health University Hospital and USA Health Providence Hospital. He will see patients in clinic at USA Health Cardiovascular Surgery at 1901 Spring Hill Avenue in Mobile. To make an appointment, call 251-300-2240.
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