Renowned pediatric cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Joseph M. Forbess has joined Nicklaus Children’s Pediatric Specialists (NCPS) as chief of the Section of Cardiovascular (CV) Surgery, and assumes a leadership position within the Nicklaus Children’s Heart Institute. Consistent with organizational succession planning, Dr. Forbess will build on the longstanding leadership of Dr. Redmond P. Burke, who has guided the cardiovascular surgery program at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital since 1995 and will remain a valued member of the CV surgical team. Dr. Forbess will lead the Nicklaus Children’s Heart Institute in collaboration with Dr. Lourdes Prieto, chief of the Section of Cardiology, with support from Dr. Burke. Nicklaus Children’s is ranked among the nation’s best hospitals for pediatric cardiology and heart surgery by U.S. News & World Report. The national accolades and heartfelt approach to compassionate care reaffirms Nicklaus Children’s promise that Nicklaus Children’s is the hospital where your child matters most.
Dr. Forbess comes to Nicklaus Children’s from University of Maryland Medical System in Baltimore, where he was professor of surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and surgical director of the Children’s Heart Program at University of Maryland Children’s Hospital. He earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in Boston, followed by residencies in general surgery and thoracic surgery at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. He completed his fellowship in cardiovascular surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital.
“We are delighted that Dr. Forbess will lead our NCPS Section of Cardiovascular Surgery,” said Dr. Chad Perlyn, President of NCPS, the employed clinical practice of Nicklaus Children’s Health System. “He brings to us clinical and research leadership to help guide our program in the years ahead. Dr. Burke has been an instrumental leader in Nicklaus Children’s Cardiovascular Surgery program, having helped the team and the program attain national notoriety. We are gratified that Dr. Burke remains with our program and will continue to play a vital role in the future growth and service to the young patients we serve for many years to come."
Dr. Forbess also holds a master’s degree in business administration from University of Texas at Dallas Naveen Jindal School of Management. His clinical interests include all aspects of congenital heart surgery from birth to adulthood. His particular areas of interest are neonatal cardiac reconstructions and biventricular repairs in infants and young children. He also performs cardiac surgery in the growing population of adults with congenital heart disease.
Dr. Forbess is board certified in congenital cardiac surgery and thoracic surgery. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and American College of Surgeons, a founding member of the World Society for Pediatric Congenital Heart Surgery and a member of the 21st Century Cardiothoracic Surgical Society, American Heart Association’s Council on Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, American Association for Thoracic Surgery, Society of Thoracic Surgeons and Southern Thoracic Surgical Association. He has an extensive background in research focused on surgical techniques and treatments for cardiac disease in neonates and young children, and has published more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals and presented at a multitude of medical conferences.
Dr. Burke joined Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in 1995 and quickly guided the program to national prominence, through his long-standing focuses on meeting the needs of neonates and children with complex surgical needs, real-time outcomes reporting and minimizing the collective trauma for children undergoing open-heart surgery.
The Heart Institute at Nicklaus Children’s, a world leader in pediatric cardiology and cardiovascular surgery for the care of children with congenital heart disease, serves as a beacon to families confronting the reality of a child or newborn with a heart defect. It offers the most innovative and least invasive approaches to the treatment of congenital heart disease, including many first-in-the-world procedures that were pioneered right here by the Heart Institute’s own internationally renowned cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons.
About Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, Where Children Matter Most (2024)
Founded in 1950 by Variety Clubs International, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital is South
Florida’s only licensed specialty hospital exclusively for children, with approximately
850 attending physicians, including more than 500 pediatric subspecialists. The 307-bed
hospital is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine with many specialty programs
routinely ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report since 2008. The
hospital is also home to the largest pediatric teaching program in the southeastern
United States and since 2003 has been designated an American Nurses Credentialing
Center (ANCC) Magnet facility, the nursing profession’s most prestigious institutional
honor. For more information, please visit www.nicklauschildrens.org.