St Vincent’s is renowned for its expertise in cardiac care, with an increasing number of interventional cardiac procedures which enable patients to avoid major surgery. 

In Queensland, St Vincent’s Private Hospital Northside is the busiest private cardiac unit in the state. 

The structural heart program, established over 10 years ago, has maintained its top five position in the country for the number of procedures it performs.

At Northside, structural heart disease cases have steadily increased annually, topping over 250 overall cases in 2023, growing 16% in 2024 and increasing another 12% in 2025.

More than 200 TAVIs (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation) are done annually at Northside, with the first carried out in 2015. This minimally invasive cardiac procedure is done to repair a damaged aortic valve without the need for open heart surgery.

Last year, the team performed 283 structural intervention cardiac procedures – 210 of those TAVI cases and 73 cardiac clipping cases, a minimally invasive procedure done to repair a leaking heart valve.

Rebecca Elliott, Clinical Nurse Consultant, Heart Team says Northside is small site-wise for the number of cardiac procedures it performs.

General Manager/Director Clinical Services Sheree Todoreskov says Northside is the busiest private cardiac centre in the state and one of the busiest in the country.

“We also do 800 open heart surgeries annually – that is a lot for a hospital our size,” Sheree said. 

“We provide exceptionally high quality cardiac care and punch well above our weight.”

The range and complexity of the cardiac work done at Northside is supported by being co-located with The Prince Charles Hospital, a tertiary centre which provides collaboration opportunities.

St Vincent’s Private Hospital Sydney, is one of the leading TAVI centres in Australia, with a history of low complication rates and best patient outcomes, thanks to skilled staff and innovations in equipment and technique over the last 18 years.

In partnership with St Vincent’s Public Sydney, the hospital was one of the first Australian hospitals to complete 1,000 TAVI procedures in 2022.

Alexis Arriagada, Structural Heart Clinical Nurse Consultant, says the hospital performs about 150 TAVIs annually. To meet demand, a new pathway was re-introduced in December 2025, allowing low risk patients to go to the ward following the procedure, rather than Intensive Care. This is resulting in greater opportunities to be active sooner and spend fewer days in hospital.

The number of cardiac clip procedures (Mitra and TriClips), performed to repair leaky heart valves, has also increased at Sydney Private, with 31 performed last year.

Matt Wall, General Manager - Director of Clinical Services at Sydney Private said the hospital is able to undertake some complex, advanced work in interventional cardiology, thanks to philanthropy and partnering with our Sydney public hospital. 

“The tri clip, used mainly in the US and UK, has been carried out at Sydney Private, thanks to St Vincent’s Curran Foundation. It’s wonderful that our patients benefit from this mix of cardiac expertise and donor support.”

St Vincent’s third centre undertaking expert interventional cardiology is St Vincent’s Private Hospital Fitzroy.

TAVI cases have steadily increased over the last three years, jumping 60% from 2023 to 2025. Last year’s total of 53 TAVI cases is looking like being eclipsed this year, with 39 cases already completed to date. 

Fitzroy Private has just begun performing cardiac clipping procedures, with these cases expected to increase.