UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Names New Chief to Lead Division of Cardiac Intensive Care Medicine

Justin Yeh, MD, an expert in cardiology and critical care, has been appointed chief of the Division of Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Medicine and co-director of the Heart Institute at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. 

Yeh’s research interests include the use of ventricular assist devices to support children with advanced heart failure. 

“The cardiac program at UPMC Children’s Hospital already is one of the highest performing centers in the country and I look forward to partnering with my new team members to bring the program to even greater heights,” said Yeh. “With strengths in both clinical care and research, we are uniquely positioned to lead congenital heart care into the next era.”

The Heart Institute at UPMC Children’s has one of the top-ranked pediatric cardiothoracic surgery programs in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report, with surgeons who provide complex, life-saving heart surgeries, including transplantation. The Heart Institute also has one of the lowest overall four-year surgical mortality rates in the nation among all high-volume programs with a mortality rate under 2 percent.

Yeh, also associate professor of Pediatrics and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, will oversee the the 12-bed pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) at UPMC Children’s, which provides critical cardiac care to infants and children with congenital or acquired heart disease and adults with congenital heart disease. The unit will soon expand to 33 beds due to a $1 million state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant.

In addition to the CICU at UPMC Children’s, Yeh also will monitor the cardiac intensive care unit at St. Joseph’s Children's Hospital in Tampa, Florida via telemedicine. UPMC Children’s collaboration with St. Joseph’s began in 2014. 

Yeh comes to UPMC Children’s from the University of California San Diego where he was the medical director of the Acute Cardiac Unit at Rady Children’s Hospital and a clinical associate professor in the Division of Pediatric Cardiology. As medical director, he oversaw inpatient clinical services for the division of pediatric cardiology and attended on the cardiac intensive care service.

“Dr. Yeh is a recognized leader in both pediatric critical care medicine and cardiology, and is a highly regarded clinician,” said Robert Clark, MD, chief, Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, UPMC Children’s and vice chair for Pediatric Critical Care in the Department of Critical Care Medicine, Pitt School of Medicine. “He comes prepared to take the already extraordinary cardiac critical care services at UPMC Children’s to the next level.”

“We are very excited to bring Dr. Yeh’s expertise to the Heart Institute. His experience in cardiac critical care is an important addition to our team,” said Vivek Allada, MD, executive director of the Heart Institute at UPMC Children’s.

After graduating from Albany Medical College, Yeh completed his residency in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Orange County. He went on to Children’s National Medical Center for additional postgraduate training, including fellowships in pediatric cardiology and critical care.

Yeh is a member of the Western Society of Pediatric Cardiology, Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society, International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation and Society of Critical Care Medicine.

For more information on Yeh and the Divison of Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Medicine at UPMC Children’s, please visit www.chp.edu.