Cardiologists
The cardiologists who practice at San Antonio Heart are vital partners in fulfilling our mission, and they share our responsibility to patients. The cardiologists who practice at San Antonio Heart Associates choose to do so. They provide the skill and experience needed to offer excellent, compassionate care to our patients.
The following is a list of our Cardiologists and a brief history about each one.
Dr. Harold Felter
Dr. Felter was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He attended Indiana University School Of Medicine and graduated in 1970 as a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honorary Society. He did his internship at Indiana University Medical Center. His residency was done at Brooke Army Medical Center Fort Sam Houston, Texas and he finished his Cardiovascular disease fellowship in 1977.
Dr. Felter entered the U.S. Army as a Captain in 1971. He was promoted to Major in 1974. His assignments included General Medical Officer, Department of Clinics U.S. Army Hospital, Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Chief Medical Officer at the Armed Forces Entrance and Exam Center, Nashville Tennessee; Director, Medical Intensive Care unit and Coronary Care unit at Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Dr. Felter was released from Active Duty in 1978.
Dr. Felter is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular disease. He is a member of the Bexar County Medical Society. He is a fellow of the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology. He has served as Chief of Staff at the Metropolitan Methodist Hospital and the Nix Memorial Hospital.
Dr. Felter has been in private practice since 1978. He was a founding member of San Antonio Heart Associates in 1998.
Dr. Jose F Font-Cordoba
Dr. Font, a native of Mexico, graduated from Ignacio Santos School of Superiores de Monterrey with his medical degree in 1991. From 1991 to 1992 he did social service work at a children's orphanage, Villa de Santiago, N.L. , Mexico. In 1992 he practiced as a General Practitioner for the emergency and outpatient departments of Osler Medical Center and St. Vincent's Hospital in Monterrey. Then in 1993, he was a research assistant for the department of Internal Medicine at BenTaub General Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. He also received his Certification from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates- ECFMG in 1993. He completed his residency and internship in 1996 at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Font completed his cardiology fellowship in 1999 at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.
Dr. Font is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Diseases. He has many publications and presentations, with extensive research in the field of nuclear stress testing. He is a member of the American College of Cardiology, American College of Physicians, the Bexar County Medical Society, American Society of Internal Medicine, and the American Society of Echocardiography.
Dr. Font joined San Antonio Heart Associates in 1999. His clinical skills include stress tests, nuclear stress tests, echocardiography, and transthoracic echocardiography. He also performs heart catheterizations. He is certified in basic cardiac life support and advanced cardiac life support.
Dr. John H. Frierson
Dr. Frierson graduated from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio in 1982 and completed his cardiology training at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio in 1990. While in Cleveland he completed a special fellowship in interventional cardiology, as well as a research fellowship involving the reduction in size of heart attacks in animals and humans.
He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology- FACC, and has completed the following board certifications:
- American Board of Internal Medicine
- American Board of Cardiovascular Disease
- American Board of Interventional Cardiology
- American Board of Clinical Lipidology
- National Board of Echocardiography
He has also completed advanced training in the use of atherectomy for peripheral vascular disease with Fox Hollow/Cordis approved courses.
Dr. Frierson enjoys diagnosing and treating all aspects of adult cardiology and peripheral vascular disease, including special emphasis on the following areas:
- Optimal control of hypertension and lipids
- Diagnosis of heart disease with echocardiography
- Diagnosis of chest discomfort symptoms and coronary disease with routine stress tests and nuclear medicine exercise or chemical testing
- Diagnosis of peripheral arterial disease using arm/leg blood pressure doppler studies
- Cardiac catheterization with coronary intervention using angioplasty and stenting as indicated for severe disease
- Catheterization of peripheral artieries to or in the legs with intervention using angioplasty, stenting and atherectomy as indicated for severe disease
- Catheterization of renal or kidney arteries in case of severe hypertension, with angioplasty and stenting as indicated for severe disease
- Evaluation of arrythmias and palpitations with outpatient monitoring
- Placemet of permanent pacemakers for indicated slow heart rhythms with symptoms
- Diagnosis and treatment of heart valve problems and heart murmurs
- Second opinion regarding diagnosis and treatment of cardiac and peripheral arterial disease
Dr. Frierson has been in private practice in San Antonio since 1990, and was a founding member of San Antonio Heart Associates in 1998. His general cardiology training was at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. He is a member of the Texas Medical Association and of the Bexar County Medical Society. Dr. Frierson is certified as a Radioactive Material Licensee with the state of Texas, for the performance of cardiac nuclear medicine studies. In addition to the San Antonio office, there are weekly clinics in Floresville, Pleasanton, and Pearsall. Dr. Frierson is comfortable with and fluent in Spanish.
Dr. John K Gresham
Dr. Gresham's hometown is Norfolk, Virginia. He attended Eastern Virginia Medical School there and graduated in 1999. Then he completed his internal medicine residency in 2002. Then in 2006, he completed his cardiovascular disease fellowship at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. In 2007 he went to Pitt County Memorial Hospital / East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina and completed his interventional cardiology fellowship.
Dr. Gresham is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Diseases, Nuclear Cardiology, and Interventional Cardiology. He is a member of the American College of Cardiology and the Bexar County Medical Society.
Dr. Gresham joined San Antonio Heart Associates in 2007 and has a special interest in peripheral vascular disease, interventional cardiology, and nuclear cardiology.
Dr. Gerald M Koppes
Dr. Koppes, a native of Manhattan, Kansas, graduated from Kansas State University with an A.B. degree in 1968, with honors (Phi Kappa Phi Honorary Society.) He graduated from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in 1972, with honors, as a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honorary Society. He was awarded the Wahl Award for excellence at the University of Kansas in 1969. He completed his internship and residency in medicine at Wilford Hall Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas, and finished his Cardiology Fellowship at Wilford Hall Medical Center in 1977.
Dr. Koppes was on the Cardiology Staff at Wilford Hall Medical Center and Chief of Echocardiography until 1980 when he entered private practice. He was a clinical assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio for 14 years. He is the author of 58 publications and presentations involving cardiovascular-related illnesses and procedures, and has taken additional training in nuclear cardiology.
Dr. Koppes is a Fellow of the following organizations:
- FACC - Fellow American College of Cardiology
- FACP - Fellow American College of Physicans
- FASE - Fellow American Society of Echocardiology
- FASNC - Fellow American Society of Nuclear Cardiology
- FSCAI - Fellow Society of Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention
- FAHA - Fellow American Heart Association
He has been in private practice since 1980 and was a founding member of San Antonio Heart Associates in 1998. He has served as Chief of Cardiology at Baptist Memorial Hospital and North Central Baptist Hospital. Dr. Koppes is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Diseases, Nuclear Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology, Echocardiography, and Coronary CT Angiography.
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