Rachel A Hargrove, MD

Rachel Hargrove, MD, chose a career in medicine, believing that it’s a unique privilege to be able to heal the body, relieve illness, and ease suffering. As a cardiac surgeon, she focuses her skills on one of the body’s most fascinating and important organs – the strong, resilient and spontaneous heart that leads the body through life. To be able to help patients with heart disease regain health and quality of life brings Dr. Hargrove great joy.

Seeing the smile on the patient’s face when they are heading home from the hospital…I feel the most satisfied when they tell me how much better they feel. Often in the postoperative visit, the pain, fatigue or shortness of breath is gone and I hear tales of new plans for the future without the prior limitations. These visits sustain and give me strength of purpose.

Dr. Hargrove practices patient-centered medicine. She treats each person as an individual and creates a treatment plan that is tailored to provide the best outcome for that individual. Her training and experience allows her to utilize up to date guidelines, innovative techniques and cutting-edge technology to treat her patients. She performs all aspects of cardiothoracic surgery including coronary bypass, valve repair and replacement, maze procedure and re-operation heart surgery with specialized training in AtriClip ligation of the left atrial appendage and aortic root surgery. Although heart surgery is a major event, she believes that with new advances, many surgeries can be safely done with minimally invasive approaches, making it her goal to provide minimally invasive and robotic options when feasible. 

Dr. Hargrove received her medical degree from Loyola University of Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in 2010, after which she returned to her home state of California to attend Loma Linda University Medical Center for a residency in general surgery. Upon completion in 2015, she returned to Illinois for a Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellowship at Loyola University Medical Center. She is a member of multiple professional organizations including the American College of Surgeons, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons and Women in Thoracic Surgery.

When not meeting with patients or in surgery, she enjoys time with her family as well as hiking and art. Dr. Hargrove is fluent in Spanish.