The Great Merrill ~ Dr. Walter Merrill, Heart Transplant Magician/Physician

Merrill, Walter, M.D.

Address: 2500 N. State St. - Jackson, MS 39216
Phone: (601) 815-2005
Toll-Free: (888) 815-2005
Areas of Practice:
Cancer, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Children's Surgery, Heart, Heart Transplant, Lung Cancer, Surgery, Transplant

Dr. Walter Merrill of University of Cincinnati leaves for Mississippi
Date: Monday, March 16, 2009, 2:13pm
James Ritchie
Staff Reporter - Business Courier

The University of Cincinnati ’s Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Dr. Walter Merrill, has left for a job in Mississippi. Merrill started March 1, 2009, as chairman of the cardiothoracic surgery division of the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
He had been at UC since 2002. His recruitment to Cincinnati from Vanderbilt University was called “quite a coup” at the time by Dr. Jeffrey Matthews, then-chief of UC’s surgery department. Merrill said things had been going well at UC, but that the opportunity in Jackson felt like a calling. “I was hopeful I could help accomplish things similar to what we were working on in Cincinnati,” Merrill said. “(Mississippi) has great leadership that really wants to grow their clinical programs, attract more patients, recruit more doctors, grow more research programs. That sense of energy, mission and purpose appealed to me.”
Among Merrill’s accomplishments at UC was re-establishing a cardiothoracic surgery training program. And he did it at a tough time. “We had seen the advent of a number of successful medical therapies and interventions which made cardiothoracic surgery not nearly as often indicated,” said Dr. Michael Edwards, UC’s chairman of surgery. “A number of patients were going for medications and stents. During that time, Walter established a new residency and made it a first-class training program.” Merrill, whose expertise includes heart transplant, heart failure and cardiac valve repair, will be missed, Edwards said. Nonetheless, UC has interviewed a potential replacement and hopes to fill the position by the end of March. “He’s laid a foundation,” Edwards said. “By continuing what Walter did, and doing them in greater frequency, we’ll actually be able to have a stronger program.” Geographically, Merrill is closer to his origins. The surgeon grew up in Alabama, and his wife grew up in New Orleans.
“There is a sense of coming home,” he said.

Editorial : You are asking why I publish this old news ? "The Great Merrill" was my Heart-Transplant Surgeon at Vanderbilt on 8/17/94 ! He is quite a guy ! 17 years have elapsed since my transplant. He must have done something right. Thank you Dr. Merrill. I know you will succeed wherever you practice !