Dr. Lappé Receives Distinguished Service to Healthcare Award

For more than 30 years, Dr. Lappé has dedicated his medical career to improving the lives of thousands of Utahns suffering from cardiovascular disease. He has been a critical leader in the development of Intermountain Healthcare’s cardiovascular programs, especially in his roles as Chairman of the Cardiovascular Department at the Intermountain Heart Institute (since 1998), Chief of Cardiology (since 1997), and as Medical Director of the Cardiovascular Clinical Program (since 1995). 

Dr. Lappé has been one of Utah’s leading cardiologists since 1979. He began serving in administrative roles in 1990, when he became Associate Director of the Utah Cardiac Transplant Program. Since then, he has been the person chiefly responsible for developing Intermountain’s cardiovascular programs, including the Intermountain Heart Institute based at Intermountain Medical Center and the Cardiovascular Clinical Program.

Dr. Lappé’s leadership is also seen in the robust academic and research programs at Intermountain Heart Institute. Each year, Heart Institute researchers are engaged in more than 100 research projects; they annually contribute an average of 50 articles in peer-reviewed journals and typically present more than 70 abstracts at national and international scientific meetings. 

By making research an integral part of clinical practice, Dr. Lappé’s efforts have improved patient outcomes, determined best practice, and provided advanced therapies to heart patients in Utah. New discoveries made at Intermountain include identifying a correlation between atrial fibrillation and dementia; finding a link between Vitamin D and cardiovascular risk factors; developing a method for predicting mortality from a patient’s blood sample and other evidence, and identifying 13 new genetic markers linked to coronary disease. 

Dr. Lappé is a Fellow in the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association, and he is the primary author or a contributor to 57 peer-reviewed articles and 119 abstracts. He earned his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and completed his residency at the University of Rochester School of Medicine. He later completed a fellowship at Johns Hopkins in cardiovascular disease.

Any discussion of Dr. Lappé’s leadership role would be incomplete without mentioning his personal qualities as a mentor, visionary, and individual of the highest integrity. As one of his fellow cardiologists put it, “Dr. Lappé is a devoted husband, father, and grandfather, as well as a respected friend, trusted advisor, and colleague to fellow physicians and staff and a caring physician to many devoted patients. He inspires others. No other cardiologist in Utah—or, indeed, its surrounding states—has had a greater impact on the care of cardiovascular patients over the past three decades than Dr. Donald Lappé.”