FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 15, 2007
CONTACT: Joyce Brennan
Media Relations
Southcoast Health System
Phone: 508-961-5270
Fax: 508-961-5876
Pgr: 508-387-9605
brennanj@southcoast.org
www.southcoast.org/news/releases/
Thoracic surgeon joins Southcoast Hospitals, expands lung cancer surgery
Richard Miller, MD, becomes the South Coast region’s only dedicated thoracic surgeon
FALL RIVER, Mass. — Richard T. Miller, MD, a thoracic surgeon specializing in
minimally invasive thoracic surgery and thoracic oncology, has joined the practice of cardiothoracic
surgeons Thomas Carr, MD, and Christian T. Campos, MD, of Southcoast Cardiac and Thoracic
Surgery in Fall River, formerly Southcoast Cardiac Surgical Associates. He will serve on the staff of
Southcoast Hospitals Group in the practice of thoracic surgery at Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall
River, St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford and Tobey Hospital in Wareham.
Cardiac and thoracic surgeries are commonly practiced together. Cardiac surgery generally
refers to surgery of the heart and its vessels while thoracic surgery refers to surgery in the chest other
than the heart. Drs. Carr and Campos perform both cardiac and thoracic surgeries. Dr. Miller
specializes in thoracic surgery and is currently the only dedicated thoracic surgeon in the South Coast
region.
The addition of a dedicated thoracic surgeon expands the scope of Southcoast’s
cardiothoracic surgery program, which has brought unprecedented access to advanced cardiothoracic
services to the region and has received exemplary reviews and outstanding patient satisfaction since
its inception in 2002.
Southcoast’s thoracic surgery program will include more comprehensive and minimally
invasive surgery for lung cancer and palliative surgical interventions for lung and esophageal cancer.
“The South Coast region has a high number of lung cancer patients who must leave the area
to receive surgery and treatment,” Dr. Miller said. “Southcoast’s thoracic surgery program will build
upon the success of the heart surgery program and similarly offer comprehensive thoracic surgery
right here in the community, where it is needed the most.”
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Thoracic surgeon joins Southcoast Hospitals, expands lung cancer surgery
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February 15, 2007
Dr. Miller specializes in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, or VATS, which is performed
primarily in early stage lung cancer patients or high risk patients that may not be a candidate for
conventional lung surgery. The technique uses a thorascope, or a special tube-like instrument
equipped with a camera, and surgical instruments that are inserted through small incisions made
between the ribs. This minimally invasive approach to lung surgery is the first for our region, offering
patients quicker recovery time, less pain and smaller surgical incisions.
Having completed an Advanced Thoracic Surgery Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in
Rochester, Minn., Dr. Miller also brings extensive experience in additional types of lung surgery,
foregut surgery and anti-reflux surgery. He is board certified by the American Board of Thoracic
Surgery and the American Board of Surgery.
Dr. Miller said he is enthusiastic to work with Southcoast’s cardiac surgery team, which
continues to be recognized for its commitment to quality and outcomes data. He plans to have office
hours at all three Southcoast hospital locations.
Dr. Carr, Director of Cardiac Surgery at Southcoast Hospitals, said Dr. Miller’s appointment
to the Southcoast Hospitals medical staff “further expands the advanced services being offered to the
patients, families and the communities of the entire South Coast region.”
Prior to joining Southcoast, Dr. Miller practiced at St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem, Pa. A
graduate of Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., Dr. Miller received his medical degree from
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, N.J. He completed a residency in
general surgery at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J. and a cardiothoracic residency at
the University of West Virginia in Morgantown, W.Va.
Dr. Miller resides in Fairhaven with his wife, Sarah.
About Southcoast’s Cardiac Surgery program
Southcoast Hospitals Group performed the first open heart surgery in Southeastern Massachusetts in
April 2002, bringing the lifesaving procedure to the region with the state’s highest incidence of heart disease.
Southcoast was the first of three community hospitals approved by the DPH to offer open heart surgery and
elective coronary angioplasty at its Charlton Memorial Hospital site in Fall River. Supplemental material about
Southcoast Heart Services can be found online at www.southcoast.org/heart/.
About Southcoast Health System
Southcoast Health System, a not-for-profit charitable organization, is a community based health
delivery system with multiple access points, offering an integrated continuum of health services throughout
Southeastern Massachusetts and East Bay, Rhode Island. It includes Southcoast Hospitals Group, formed in
1996 from the merger of Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford and
Tobey Hospital in Wareham.
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