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Harrisburg Magazine (PA)
October, 2007:
JEFF COPE, MD
By Scott Campbell
 "I want to bring state of the art procedures to Lancaster so that patients do not have to go to a distant city to get the care they need," says cardiothoracic surgeon Jeff Cope, delineating one of several goals that the 41-year old Lancaster General Hospital (LGH) physician has established. And he is well on the way to attaining it. in recent years, LGH has been twice rated as one of the "Top 50 Hospitals for Heart & Heart Surgery" by U.S. News & World Report.
Dr. Cope disputes the notion that cutting edge medical technology is exclusive to metropolitan hospitals, continuing to build LGH’s ventricular assist device (VAD) program. A VAD is a mechanical blood pump which is implanted in the body to assist the failing heart. He wants Lancaster to become one of the few centers in eastern Pennsylvania to offer VAD as "destination therapy." "A destination therapy VAD is for patients who require a heart transplant, but, because of age or physical condition, do not qualify," explains Cope. Once the VAD program is approved for destination therapy, LGH will be one of only several community hospitals in the country to have that distinction.
Another goal is to make surgery as minimally invasive as possible, because smaller incisions are less painful and heal faster. One example is thoracic aortic stent grafting, a procedure to prevent aneurysms in the body’s largest artery. "Before, we had to make a large incision across the side of the chest," says Cope. "Now, we enter through an artery in the groin and our patients recover much faster." Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a dangerous disturbance of the heart rhythm. AF ablation is a procedure performed by Cope and his colleagues in which a discrete surface portion of the heart is ablated by radiofrequency energy to isolate it, resolving the problem of irregular heart beat.
Recent advancements in cardiothoracic surgery have greatly improved the quality of life for many patients. But not every story has a happy ending. "The bad outcomes hurt," he admits. "But, when someone dies, I try to turn it around and use the wisdom gained from it…to better help the next patient." Noting an important trend, Cope states, "Half of the current cardiothoracic surgeons will retire within the next ten tears. Residency positions were only two-thirds filled in each of the last two years so there are going to be many opportunities for new medical students to enter the field. And with aging baby boomers, the shortage could be critical."
Born in Lancaster County, Cope graduated from Hempfield High School and Franklin and Marshall College. He earned his medical degree at Penn State Hershey and completed general and cardiothoracic surgical residencies at the University of Virginia. Cope returned to the area and joined Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Lancaster. There he has worked with surgeons Mark Burlingame and Lawrence Bonchek, both of whom he regards as mentors and models of professional excellence.
"It’s hard work," says Cope of his vocation. "You need to have a supportive family, and I am blessed with one. Anyone considering it needs to enter in it for the right reasons. There are risks, of course. But the immediate change that a patient experiences in his life is the most gratifying part of it for me."
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