Tampa, FL (July 27, 2014) — Long-time Tampa cardiologist Xavier E. Prida, MD, joined the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, Aug. 1 as an assistant professor in the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences where he will play a vital role in clinical education and care. He comes to USF Health from St. Joseph’s Hospital, where he practiced nearly 27 years.
Dr. Prida will help teach medical students and residents and see patients at USF Health’s south and north campus locations – the South Tampa Center for Advanced Healthcare adjacent to Tampa General Hospital and the Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare on the USF Tampa campus. He plans to join the TGH medical staff, providing consultative services and performing procedures in the hospital’s cardiac catheterization laboratory.
Interventional cardiologist Dr. Xavier Prida joins USF Health from St. Joseph’s Hospital, where he practiced for nearly 27 years.
“Dr. Prida is one of the most well-known and respected cardiologists in the Tampa Bay region. We are fortunate he joined us,” said Arthur Labovitz, MD, chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences and an acting director of the USF Health Heart Institute. “His addition to the department will help advance our primary mission to elevate the level of cardiac care across the region.”
Dr. Prida specializes in consultative cardiology, which offers comprehensive analysis of an individual’s cardiovascular condition and related diseases to help the patient and doctor jointly develop the best treatment plan. He is an expert in interventional procedures, such as cardiac catheterization, angioplasty and stenting, with a special interest in managing acute coronary syndromes, studying health and disease outcomes, and improving quality of care.
“We have added a superbly trained interventional cardiologist in Dr. Xavier Prida,” said Sally Houston, MD, executive vice president and chief medical officerwith Tampa General Hospital. “He is a welcome addition to our team and will only enhance the outstanding cardiac care we deliver every day at Tampa General.”
Dr. Prida is a fellow of three premier professional societies – the American College of Cardiology, the Society of Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention, and the American College of Chest Physicians.
At St. Joseph’s since 1987, he held positions as director of the coronary care unit, chief of the Department of Cardiology, director of medical education and quality outcomes, and, most recently, medical director of the adult cardiac catheterization laboratories.
As regional co-director of the American Heart Association’s Mission Lifeline Accelerator program, Dr. Prida was instrumental in helping integrate local systems of care to improve outcomes for patients who suffer a life-threatening type of heart attack known as STEMI, out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, or both.
“Dr. Prida played a key role in working with the community and EMS to get patients into hospital cardiac catheterization labs faster, reducing the time it takes to open blocked arteries,” Dr. Labovitz said.
Dr. Prida received his MD degree from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in 1980. He completed residency training in internal medicine at New York Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College, and served as assistant chief resident at Memorial Hospital/Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute. Following a fellowship in cardiology at Shands Hospital/ University of Florida College of Medicine, he was appointed instructor of medicine/chief resident in the Department of Medicine there.
Dr. Prida says he looks forward to returning to an academic health center after many years in private practice.
“Students and residents ask questions from different, independent perspectives, and that often opens new avenues of inquiry and discovery,” Dr. Prida said. “I’m thankful to the all the patients, institutions, physicians and staff who have educated me over the years. In this next stage of my career, I want to pass on what I’ve learned from others to help educate the next generation of physician leaders.”
He sees a bright future for USF’s growing clinical cardiology group – the largest in Tampa at the region’s only academic health center.
With Dr. Labovitz’s leadership over the last few years, Dr. Prida said, the USF Health Department of Cardiovascular Sciences “has become a flagship program increasingly relevant to the community it serves.”
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USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician’s Group. The University of South Florida is a Top 50 research university in total research expenditures among both public and private institutions nationwide, according to the National Science Foundation. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu
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