Casey Miller, Lead Advanced Practice Provider for Cardiothoracic Surgery, ECMO program Coordinator, Emory University Hospital
If you’re a patient visiting the new Heart & Vascular procedural area on the third and fourth floors of the EUH Tower, chances are high that you’ll be impacted by the work of Casey Miller. Casey is the Lead Advanced Practice Provider (APP) for Cardiothoracic Surgery at Emory University Hospital (EUH) and the Supervisor for the ECMO Center. She helps to manage APPs, Cardiovascular Operating Room (CVOR) Surgical First Assists and ECMO Specialists positions, and will be one of the providers working in the newly opened space. Ahead of the opening, we sat down with her to hear her thoughts on this exciting new project.
Emory: What is your favorite part of your job?
Casey Miller: I love that my job is never the same from one day to the next. I still work clinically as an ECMO Coordinator while also having administrative duties. Multiple roles mean there is never a dull day, and I must always be on my toes! Also, it’s fun to work the lights and sirens in the ambulance.
Emory: What made you want to get into this field?
Miller: As a nurse, I always looked at jobs that would challenge me while also allowing me to make a compassionate connection with my patients. I found this working with mechanical circulatory device patients. After completing my Nurse Practitioner degree, I found that MCS Coordinator roles, like my ECMO Coordinator job, blended all my past experiences while allowing me expanded patient interactions.
Emory: How will the opening of this new space enhance your ability to do your job?
Miller: The Heart and Vascular expansion has increased our capacity for ICU beds and Operating Rooms. This will allow us to provide more expedited, thorough care for the patients we serve. The 3T and 4TN spaces are spacious, bright and open and provide lots of room for our complex patients, who have multiple machines and always require many hands present. I’m also excited about it because it allows us more accessibility to fluoroscopy and procedural rooms for ECMO cannulations so we can provide the necessary care more quickly with visualization, which may be needed in complex cases. The space is large and will accommodate all the people and things necessary to provide great care!
Emory: Tell us about a moment that has been particularly impactful over the years.
Miller: The COVID pandemic was the most impactful time in my nineteen-year career in medicine. I started in my current role at Emory in February 2022, just as the world began to quarantine for this virus. There were many patients who required prolonged ECMO support to recover or bridge to transplant during this time. I learned so much about resiliency from my fellow healthcare workers, families and -- most of all -- the patients. There were many patients who spent months on ECMO support, and the most amazing thing was to be able to see them successfully leave the hospital. I learned so much in those two years about medicine, myself and the value of the amazing team that surrounded me during this time.
Emory: What do you think makes Emory stand out among health care systems?
Miller: Our team is caring and compassionate and goes above and beyond in providing state-of-the-art, expert care to all patients across the southeastern region.
Emory: If someone in your life needed Heart & Vascular care, what would you want them to know?
Miller: I would tell them to come to Emory, of course! Here, they can expect great care from the best clinicians possible and from a group of experts who can provide the most up-to-date treatment options.