Pioneering Heart Surgeon Joins the Saint Alphonsus Cardiology Team

Dr. Robert Saeid Farivar Named Heart Institute Cardiothoracic Surgery Medical Director

Dr. Robert Saeid Farivar MD, PhD, the first heart surgeon in the United States to perform a Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement (TMVR) procedure, has been named Medical Director at the Saint Alphonsus Heart Institute in Boise.

Dr. Farivar comes from Florida, where he was Medical Director of Cardiovascular Surgery at HCA East Florida Division. He has also served as Chairman of Cardiac Surgery at Allina Health and Chief of Cardiac Surgery at the Minneapolis Heart Institute, and he was Chief of Cardiac Surgery for Penn Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

His career has also taken him to surgical and leadership positions at the University of Iowa Health Care in Iowa City.

“Dr. Farivar is a pioneer in cardiovascular surgery and a dynamic and highly skilled surgeon, who will lead our heart surgery team to achieve exciting innovations in heart care. I’m so pleased that he has joined the Saint Alphonsus Heart Institute and our team of outstanding cardiovascular surgeons and cardiologists,” said Odette Bolano, President and CEO of the Saint Alphonsus Health System.

A graduate of Yale University, where he earned a BA in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Dr. Farivar was awarded his MD and PhD in Pathology from the Boston University School of Medicine. He was a research fellow in Cardiac Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and served residencies in general surgery and Thoracic Surgery at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

The Saint Alphonsus Heart Institute, based in Boise, serves patients in Idaho and Eastern Oregon, specializing in atrial fibrillation (AFib), stereotaxis robotic magnetic navigation, minimally invasive heart valve surgery, and the only Women’s Heart program in Idaho. US News and World Report’s annual 2020-21 hospital rankings named Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center as a Platinum Award Recipient for treating Chest Pain- MI (myocardial infarction), or a heart attack. SARMC is a designated Level 1 STEMI Center by the Idaho Time Sensitive Emergency System and the only American College of Cardiology Accredited Chest Pain Center with Primary PCI and Resuscitation in Idaho.