A Nurse Navigator-Led Community-Based Cardio-Oncology Clinic

Dr. Garrett is the Medical Director of Cancer Services and Radiation Oncology at Franciscan St. Francis Hospital located on the Southside of Indianapolis, Indiana.

Dr. Garrett graduated from Queen’s University located in Kingston, Ontario in 1977. After graduating from Medical School he did an Internship in General Medicine through Queens University followed by a Radiation Oncology Residency and Fellowship at the University of Toronto through Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, Ontario completing his program in 1981.

During Dr. Garrett’s tenure as a Radiation Oncologist, he has participated in many professional societies and professional committees. Dr. Garrett has also participated and continues to participate in several medical research groups and has been published multiple times.

A member of Franciscan Physician Network Indiana Heart Physicians (IHP), Dr. Rao practices at Franciscan Health Indianapolis and also sees patients at clinics in Greensburg and Greencastle. He is board-certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, echocardiography, nuclear cardiology, and advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology.

Dr. Rao received his undergraduate degree in biology from DePauw University and earned his medical degree at Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. He completed an internal medicine residency at Duke University Medical Center and later completed fellowships in cardiology and echocardiography at the University of California (San Francisco), where he also was a clinical instructor in cardiology. Dr. Rao also has a PhD in molecular and cellular biology and pathobiology from the University of South Carolina.

He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and Fellow of the American Society of Echocardiography

He was instrumental in helping establishing an inpatient heart failure unit and coordinating heart failure care to reduce heart failure readmissions. Dr. Rao also played a key role in launching a cardio-oncology clinic that promotes collaboration between oncologists and cardiologists to help cancer patients successfully complete their cancer treatment with the goal of minimizing potential cardio-toxic effects of certain chemotherapy drugs.

For the last 40 years, Kerry Skurka has been a practicing registered nurse and leader in cardiology, critical care and emergency medicine. In 2011, Kerry left her leadership role to switch gears as she wanted to once again care for patients at the bedside. In 2014, Kerry became an infusion nurse at Franciscan Health, where she quickly noticed cardiac issues in her oncology patients. Her cardiac nursing background and leadership experience then took her down the less-traveled path of cardio-oncology, which led to her becoming the first cardio-oncology nurse navigator at Franciscan Health in 2016. For Kerry, cancer care was personal. She was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2008 and stood by her husband’s side in 2013 as he was diagnosed with head and neck cancer and later passed away from Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2017. As a cancer survivor herself, becoming the cardio-oncology nurse navigator at Franciscan was a natural fit that fueled a new passion in making a difference in cancer survivorship. Kerry’s passion about cardio-oncology is ever evident as she has lobbied both at the state and national levels; submitted multiple poster projects at various conferences; and strives to educate everyone she meets, because in her own words: cardio-oncology affects patients every day in every community.