Clinical Divisions

The Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology Division is comprised of fellowship-trained cardiac anesthesiologists who have completed formal cardiothoracic anesthesiology fellowships and are Diplomates of Advanced Perioperative Transesophageal Echocardiography.

The University of Minnesota has a storied history in cardiac surgery, including the world’s first successful open-heart procedure in 1952 and the first implantation of an artificial heart valve in 1966. Today, we remain a leading center for:

• Ventricular assist devices
• Heart and lung transplantation (including more than 50 lung transplants annually)
• Minimally invasive cardiac surgery
• Complex mitral valve repair
• Structural heart interventions

Our ACGME-accredited Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology Fellowship accepts two fellows annually. Training emphasizes complex cardiac procedures, mechanical circulatory support, transplantation, structural heart disease, and emerging technologies. Graduates are exceptionally prepared for careers in academic medicine or high-acuity private practice.

The division is deeply committed to advancing the field through education, research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and scholarly activity while delivering the highest standard of perioperative cardiac care.

The Chronic Pain Division provides comprehensive, multidisciplinary pain management focused on improving function and quality of life while prioritizing safe, evidence-based, and opioid-sparing approaches.

Our Clinic for Comprehensive Pain Management brings together anesthesiologists, physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians, psychologists, pharmacists, physical therapists, and nurse practitioners with specialized expertise in pain care.

We offer:

• Advanced pharmacologic management
• Image-guided interventional procedures
• Neuromodulation and implantable pain-control devices
• Functional restoration programs
• Neurobehavioral counseling

Our team collaborates closely with specialists throughout M Health Fairview to develop coordinated, patient-centered treatment plans. This division offers robust opportunities for interdisciplinary education, procedural training, and clinical research in evolving pain therapies.

Critical care anesthesiologists play a central role in the delivery of ICU services at the University of Minnesota Medical Center and across M Health Fairview.

Our division is an active participant in the Minnesota Critical Care Collaborative (MC3), a University of Minnesota initiative dedicated to improving critical care delivery through collaboration, education, quality improvement, and shared best practices. This partnership strengthens our commitment to collaborative-based care, outreach, tele-critical care, and population-level improvement in ICU outcomes.

We provide care in:

• Surgical ICU
• Cardiothoracic ICU
• Medical ICU
• Community ICUs at Southdale and Ridges Medical Centers
• System-wide tele-ICU services supporting rural hospitals

Our multidisciplinary rounding teams include intensivists, fellows, residents, medical students, advanced practice providers, pharmacists, nutrition specialists, and nurses.

Our ACGME-accredited Critical Care Medicine Anesthesiology Fellowship provides advanced, high-acuity training across medical, surgical, and cardiothoracic ICUs. Fellows gain extensive experience in complex cardiothoracic critical care, mechanical circulatory support, extracorporeal therapies, advanced ventilatory management, and perioperative critical care.

The Multispecialty Division provides comprehensive anesthesia and perioperative care for adult patients undergoing a wide range of surgical procedures, including:

• Abdominal and gynecologic surgery (including liver and kidney transplantation and complex vascular surgery)
• Non-cardiac thoracic surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Ophthalmology and otolaryngology
• Orthopedic surgery
• Anesthesia for off-site procedures (cardiac catheterization labs, MRI, interventional suites)

Care is delivered across the main university campus and affiliated ambulatory centers, including Maple Grove.

Faculty provide the full spectrum of anesthetic techniques:

• General anesthesia
• Regional anesthesia
• Peripheral nerve blocks
• Monitored anesthesia care and sedation

Many division members participate in the Acute Pain Service, delivering advanced regional anesthetic techniques to optimize postoperative recovery and enhance patient outcomes.

This division offers broad clinical exposure, strong regional anesthesia training, and diverse academic opportunities.

The Obstetric Division provides comprehensive analgesia and anesthesia services for labor and delivery, cesarean section, and postpartum pain management.

We offer a full range of labor analgesia techniques, including:

• Continuous epidural infusions
• Patient-controlled epidural analgesia
• Intrathecal analgesia

For operative delivery, we provide:

• Epidural anesthesia
• Spinal anesthesia
• Combined spinal-epidural anesthesia
• Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) blocks for postoperative analgesia

In collaboration with Maternal-Fetal Medicine, we provide consultation and anesthetic management for high-risk pregnancies, including hypertensive disorders, coagulopathies, congenital heart disease, hemoglobinopathies, and complex obesity.

The division is actively engaged in clinical research, including investigations into long-acting local anesthetic formulations and innovative analgesic techniques. We are committed to patient- and family-centered care that supports the safety, dignity, and celebratory nature of childbirth.

The Obstetric Division provides education for residents, CRNAs, and student nurse anesthetists in a high-volume, high-acuity setting.

The Department’s history in pediatric innovation is longstanding. The first successful mother-to-child cross-circulation open-heart surgery was performed here in 1954, and more recently, teams at the University of Minnesota successfully separated conjoined twins.

The majority of pediatric anesthesia care and fellowship training occurs at University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital.

The Pediatric Division provides anesthesia for:

• Solid organ transplantation (liver, kidney, heart, lung, intestine)
• Bone marrow and stem cell transplantation
• Pancreatectomy with auto-islet transplantation
• Cardiac surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Orthopedic surgery
• Radiation therapy
• Interventional radiology
• Non-operating room procedures

We operate a full-service, family-centered sedation unit and provide specialized care for neonates, premature infants, and children with rare or complex diseases, including malignant hyperthermia.

Our ACGME-accredited Pediatric Anesthesiology Fellowship offers comprehensive clinical exposure, with an optional international elective at Narayana Health in Bengaluru, India.

The division includes subspecialty expertise in pediatric cardiac anesthesia, regional anesthesia and acute pain, chronic pain, neonatal anesthesia, and non-operating room anesthesia. Faculty are nationally engaged in clinical research and academic scholarship.

The University of Minnesota is a leader in the evolving specialty of perioperative medicine, a patient-centered, evidence-based, systems-driven approach to surgical care.

The Preoperative Assessment Center (PAC) evaluates and optimizes medically complex patients prior to surgery. Led by board-certified anesthesiologists and supported by advanced practice providers, the PAC applies current evidence-based guidelines to create individualized care plans.

Areas of focus include:

• Anticoagulation management
• Chronic pain coordination
• COPD optimization
• Anemia management
• Perioperative diabetes management
• Frailty assessment and geriatric optimization
• Prehabilitation
• Surgical site infection prevention

Our anesthesiologists are leaders in Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) pathway development and implementation across M Health Fairview.

Faculty within this division drive system-wide quality improvement initiatives and value-based care transformation efforts. The team plays a critical role in guiding the transition from fee-for-service models to system-based, outcomes-focused healthcare delivery.