Expert and compassionate cardiac care. By Carolyn Patten Photopraphy by Chris Miller One cold, snowy December 2010 night in Hartford — where he was completing his interventional cardiology fellowship at the University of Connecticut — Dr. Michael Bagheri and his wife, Leila, were at home by the fireplace, daydreaming of where he might land his first job. On TV was an episode of their favorite show, HGTV’s House Hunters, on which a young couple was purchasing a vacation home in Palm Springs. “This sunny small town with towering palm trees, an attractive environment, and amazing architecture was very appealing,” says Bagheri, 45. “We decided right then and there that we had to look into this beautiful place.” Long story short, Bagheri was soon offered a position with Desert Regional Medical Center, and the couple relocated in August of 2011. Six years later — having successfully performed countless procedures, earned a sterling reputation, and amassed a substantial core of loyal patients — Bagheri was approached to take over the practice of retiring cardiologist Ronald B. Himelman, M.D. He therefore seized the opportunity in 2017 to launch his independent practice, Cure Cardiovascular Consultants. But let’s back up a bit. Thanks to his stellar academic performance, the Texas-born, Tehran-raised Bagheri was accepted into Melli University School of Medicine straight out of high school at age 18. A stateside residency in internal medicine and a subsequent general cardiology fellowship at East Tennessee State University led to his landing at UConn for his interventional cardiology fellowship … and that fateful winter night with Leila in Hartford. And here we are. “Basically, I’m an interventional cardiologist who offers comprehensive services when it comes to the heart and vascular care, which includes the prevention and treatment of various heart conditions,” says Bagheri of his private practice, which he intends to expand to include a full roster of fellow specialists. On any given day, the quadruple-boardcertified physician can be found at his office seeing patients or performing procedures at either Eisenhower Medical Center or Desert Regional Medical Center (where he is a core faculty member for the hospital’s internal medicine residency program). He is also a teaching faculty member for Cardiovascular Systems Inc. based out of St. Paul, Minnesota. Additionally, you can catch him as a regular guest speaker at the Mended Hearts Program (a local support group for patients who have suffered a cardiac event) or volunteering at Affairs of the Heart Conference (an annual event hosted by DRMC that helps patients identify cardiovascular risks). Bagheri is one of very few cardiologists who’s proficient in cardiac intervention via radial access. So far, he has successfully performed more than 2,000 such procedures. “When I operate on the heart, I go through the wrist so the patient can be mobile with minimal recovery time,” he states. “We usually send patients home in just a couple of hours, as opposed to what traditional cardiologists do, which is use a femoral approach to get to the heart. In that case, the patient has to be on their back for hours — and if an angioplasty/stent is performed, they have to spend a night in the hospital and then be discharged the next day if everything is OK.” Another rare service Bagheri offers is Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation. “Historically, patients with a damaged aortic valve would be sent for open heart surgery. Now we can fix their valve without surgery, going through a tiny incision in their groin and implanting a new valve to replace the malfunctioning one. Most often, they get to go home the next day.” Bagheri thrives on keeping abreast of such latest technologies, and he travels the world doing it. His established work philosophy is, “I don’t practice on the basis of revenue, I simply try to provide the most genuine care of the highest quality that yields the best results for my patients.”