When Robert Bisaccia Jr., 56, developed a sharp pain in his chest and side in March 2023, it made him uneasy — especially since the discomfort wasn’t always brought on by strenuous activity but would sometimes strike when he was merely lying down. “It didn’t feel right,” the Eastchester resident says. Two weeks later, an EKG during his annual physical found nothing abnormal. “Still, my doctor suggested further analysis to determine the cause of the discomfort,” he says.
Bisaccia visited Dr. Gabriela Grasa, a Cardiologist at White Plains Hospital, who investigated further. A heart sonogram provided more clarity. “There were heart wall motion abnormalities suggesting some blockages in the arteries,” he remembers. Dr. Grasa said he would need a cardiac catheterization, a procedure during which a long, thin tube called a catheter would be threaded through a vessel in his body and up into his heart to examine the coronary arteries. White Plains Hospital has several catheterization labs, a convenience that meant he wouldn’t need to go elsewhere for this procedure. “I was relieved by that,” Bisaccia recalls. “It was a huge plus for me to be able to get all the care I needed in one place, close to home.”
Expert Cardiac Care
The results sent him and his family reeling: his three main coronary arteries were each 90 percent blocked. “I said, ‘Oh my God!’” he remembers. “But my wife and mother, who were with me, said, ‘Thank God they saw this now.’”
His good fortune continued when he was introduced to Dr. Robert Michler, Surgeon-in-Chief of the Montefiore Einstein Health System and Director of the Montefiore Cardiac Surgery Program at White Plains Hospital. Bisaccia was now in the hands of an internationally renowned cardiac surgeon, as well as an entire team hand-selected by Dr. Michler that was recently awarded the highest 3-Star Rating from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons for patient care and clinical outcomes in coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) procedures. From the surgeons to anesthesiologists to nurses, “every person on the cardiac surgery team who comes into contact with one of my patients has been trained by myself and my partner, Dr. William A. Jakobleff,” says Dr. Michler.
Together, the team shares a vision. “We provide extremely personal and attentive care at the highest level possible for any patient requiring heart surgery,” Dr. Michler explains. This approach was clear to Bisaccia at their very first meeting. “I felt extremely comfortable as Dr. Michler explained in detail the procedure I would need to have,” he says.
Bisaccia required an operation called a triple bypass to reroute the blood around the blockages in the three problematic coronary arteries. One of those blocked arteries, the anterior descending artery, is the most important of all the coronary arteries, because it supplies blood to a very large segment of the heart muscle. To circumvent the blockage, Drs. Michler and Jakobleff harvested an artery that is narrower than a strand of spaghetti from Bisaccia’s chest wall and used it to create a detour around the blockage. The downstream end of the harvested artery was sewn below the blockage using sutures that are finer than a piece of hair.
Additionally, the doctors harvested a vein from one of Bisaccia’s legs via a minimally invasive procedure to create two similar bypasses for the two other blocked arteries, sewing one end to the small artery on the heart and the other end directly to the aorta, the body’s largest blood vessel.
Dr. Michler explains that in patients like Bisaccia who have blockages in the three principal coronary arteries, CABG is strongly preferable to placing stents (tiny, expandable coils made of metal mesh placed into the blocked arteries to open them up). This is because CABG surgery provides patients with better rates of risk-free survival. “Many well-defined scientific clinical trials have found that patients receiving stents instead of CABG surgery for conditions like Robert’s have a higher risk of future heart attacks, repeat procedures, and lower long-term survival,” Dr. Michler says.
Once Bisaccia received the scientific data from Dr. Michler, he knew he was getting coronary artery bypass surgery, the best treatment possible.
Stress, But Also Success
Bisaccia says it was a bit difficult to psychologically prepare himself for the operation, even knowing that in Drs. Michler and Jakobleff’s hands the risk of death was less than one percent. “I got my life situation in order,” says Bisaccia, who works in the building industry and has four children. “You always want to stay positive, but I also wanted to make sure my family was going to be okay."
He scheduled the surgery for one week after meeting with Dr. Michler. “That’s when it hit me very hard about what was going to happen,” he recalls. “In my opinion, it was not just any surgery — I knew it was surgery that was going to change my life forever.”
The four-hour operation was a complete success. “My first thought when I opened my eyes was ‘I’m alive and grateful,’” he shares.
He spent four days in the hospital and as his medical needs became fewer, his level of intensive care was reduced, but the attention to detail that he received from the team never changed. This shift didn’t involve moving rooms. Instead, the equipment was changed around him using something called the Universal Bed Model. Patients remain in the same bed in the same ICU room, with the same caregivers, for the duration of their stay — with care adjusted as they heal and their acute needs become less complex.
“That’s one of the strengths of our system,” Dr. Michler says. “We believe that having the same team throughout our patients’ hospital stay is beneficial, because no one knows them better than the people who took care of them in the operating room and in the ICU.”
A Chance to Give Thanks
Following his discharge from the Hospital, Robert underwent rehabilitation therapy at the renowned Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains which is also a member of the Montefiore Einstein Health System. “The seamless transition from world-class care to world-class rehabilitation is another benefit of the Montefiore Einstein Health System,” Dr. Michler says of the organization.
About three months into his recovery, Bisaccia began to notice a tremendous difference in his health.
Just as he had anticipated, the operation had changed his life — in positive ways. “I feel better than new. There’s no shortness of breath anymore,” he shares. By June, he was able to work from home. That same month, Bisaccia, who is an avid golfer, got back on the course again.
He felt he couldn’t thank Dr. Michler enough for all he had done — until an opportunity to do exactly that arose out of the blue. In May 2023, Bisaccia and his sister visited Lake Isle Country Club in Eastchester. By sheer coincidence, Westchester Magazine was holding an event there that day: a Healthcare Heroes Awards luncheon, recognizing top figures in the area’s healthcare system. Dr. Michler was among the honorees, and was receiving the inaugural Transformative Leadership Award in recognition of his lifetime achievements.
As soon as Bisaccia and his sister realized this, they rushed in and bought two tickets. They sat in the audience, cheering the physician who was their personal healthcare hero.
Dr. Michler was touched by Bisaccia’s gesture. “One of the wonderful things that I have been fortunate to do is to help people at a pivotal moment in their lifetime. It is often the first time someone has faced their own mortality,” he says. Estimating that he has performed more than 5,000 heart operations in his career, with approximately 1,000 of those with Dr. Jakobleff by his side, Dr. Michler says, “What happened with Robert Bisaccia at the Healthcare Heroes Awards luncheon was so serendipitous and moving for me. Robert shared with me and my team his great appreciation."
Bisaccia is always willing to spread the news that White Plains Hospital’s cardiac care is world class. “I would recommend White Plains Hospital to anyone. I’d tell my story a million times over to anyone willing to listen to my journey,” he says. “I’d tell the story straight from my heart.”
To find a physician, or to learn more about White Plains Hospital’s Cardiac Services Program, visit wphospital.org/cardiology.
To make a gift in support of White Plains Hospital's Cardiac Services program, visit wphospital.org/have-a-heart.