Arkansas Heart & Vascular Institute

Schedule an Appointment Vascular Screenings - $100

Physicians

Mary Bourland, M.D. Cardiothoracic Surgery

Kalai Huff, M.D. Cardiac Anesthesiology

Wayne Welsher, M.D. Cardiothoracic Surgery

Dr. Mary Bourland

Mary E. Bourland, M.D., F.A.C.S., is certified by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery. She is Director of Endovascular and Vascular Surgery at St. Mary's Hospital, Mercy Health System of Northwest Arkansas. Before moving to Arkansas, Dr. Bourland practiced for 12 years in Joplin, Missouri, where Money magazine ranked her vascular program as one of the top 25 in the nation. Additionally, her open heart program was named one of the top 100 in the nation.

Dr. Bourland holds a B.S. with Honors from Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. She graduated from the Southern Illinois University Medical School in Springfield, Illinois, where she also completed a general surgical residency. She also completed a fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Dr. Bourland specializes in minimally invasive vascular surgery and has a special interest in the SilverHawk atherectomy device. She is also committed to the prevention of heart and vascular disease through education and prevention. Dr. Bourland is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and is a member of the Society for Vascular Ultrasound.

Dr. Kalai Huff

Dr. Kalai Huff also comes to Northwest Arkansas after spending a significant amount of time at St. John's in Joplin, where she was the attending cardiac anesthesiologist on many of Dr. Bourland's cases. She has more than 20 years of experience in anesthesia services, and has completed advanced specialized training in the intricacies of cardiac preoperative evaluation, invasive monitoring, hemodynamic optimization, transesophageal echocardiography, cardiovascular physiology and pharmacology, management of cardiopulmonary bypass, total circulatory arrest, and postoperative care of the patient having cardiac and vascular surgery.

Dr. Huff is board certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology. She completed fellowships in cardiothoracic anesthesia and anesthesiology at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pa., in anesthesiology at Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital in Philadelphia, and in pathology at St. Luke?s Medical Center in New York, N.Y., and in internship in internal medicine at Philadelphia General Hospital. Dr. Huff received her medical education in Madras, India.

Dr. Wayne Welsher

Dr. Welsher has been performing open-heart surgeries for 24 years, during which time he was instrumental in starting a successful open-heart program at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville, N.C. He has a very extensive background in carotid endarterectomy and has a keen surgical interest in valve repair, coronary bypass and aortic reconstruction.

A fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Welsher is board certified by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. He completed his residency in cardiovascular thoracic surgery and was fellowship trained in peripheral vascular surgery at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, Ill. He completed his residency in general surgery at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Conn., and completed his surgical internship at Hospital University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Penn. He earned his medical degree at State University of New York, Upstate Medical School in Syracuse, N.Y. after completing his undergraduate work at Boston University where he graduated Magna Cum Laude.