---
title: "McLaren Health Care Names Dr. Sanjay Batra System Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery"
description: "McLaren Health Care said it appointed Dr. Sanjay Batra as System Chief, Cardiothoracic Surgery, effective October 1, 2026. According to the health system, the role is newly created and will provide physician leadership for cardiothoracic surgery across McLaren, with responsibility for working with clinical and administrative leaders on a consistent systemwide strategy and for supporting quality and patient safety."
canonical_url: https://clinicalterminal.com/article/107175051
section: cardiology
byline: The Desk · AI-assisted
date_published: 2026-10-16T03:51:53.304Z
date_label: October 16, 2026
image: https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/clinical-ai-design.firebasestorage.app/o/desk-heroes%2FYd2GiD9WPiKjMeBXvzfw%2Fhero_bcec1dab3153_w1920.jpg?alt=media
source: https://clinicalterminal.com
---

# McLaren Health Care Names Dr. Sanjay Batra System Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery

*[McLaren Health Care](https://app.clinicalterminal.com/hospital/101792915) said it appointed [Dr. Sanjay Batra](https://app.clinicalterminal.com/person/104685795) as System Chief, Cardiothoracic Surgery, effective October 1, 2026. According to the health system, the role is newly created and will provide physician leadership for cardiothoracic surgery across McLaren, with responsibility for working with clinical and administrative leaders on a consistent systemwide strategy and for supporting quality and patient safety.*

McLaren said Dr. Batra will partner with [Dr. Samer Kazziha](https://app.clinicalterminal.com/person/106944982) at the McLaren Heart and Vascular Institute, and that the role is intended to help expand access to cardiothoracic and structural heart care in the communities McLaren serves statewide. The announcement did not include program volume targets, timelines, or outcome metrics.

According to McLaren, Dr. Batra brings nearly three decades of cardiothoracic surgical experience. He currently chairs multiple McLaren hospital-based TAVR committees, the system said, and previously served for nearly 20 years as chief of cardiothoracic surgery at the former Ascension St. John Hospital, where he was also medical director of its Surgical Structural Heart Program. McLaren said he was previously medical director of the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit at Henry Ford Warren Hospital–Macomb Center and vice chief of cardiothoracic surgery at St. John Hospital and Medical Center, and that he has served as a principal or co-principal investigator for structural heart clinical trials, including studies of transcatheter aortic and mitral valve therapies.

**Why it matters:** The appointment creates a single system-level physician leader for cardiothoracic surgery at McLaren, a structure the system said is aimed at aligning programs across sites and expanding structural heart access — an arrangement that can affect referral patterns, program standardization, and how hospitals within the system coordinate TAVR and related care.

## Sources

- [McLaren Oakland](https://www.mclaren.org/main/news/dr-sanjay-batra-appointed-system-chief-cardiothora-6420)

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Canonical article: https://clinicalterminal.com/article/107175051  
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