Dr. Mark D. Plunkett, MD

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Get to know Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgeon Dr. Mark D. Plunkett, who serves patients in Illinois.

A pediatric and congenital heart surgeon, Dr. Plunkett strives to care for each child as if they were his own and to care for each patient as if they were family.

Currently, he is Chief of Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery at the OSF Children’s Hospital of Illinois, Co-Director of the Congenital Heart Center at the Children’s Hospital of Illinois and OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, and a Professor of Surgery at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. 

With a clinical career spanning over two decades, Dr. Plunkett has performed more than 4000 cardiothoracic surgical procedures with excellent outcomes and an overall operative mortality of less than 3 percent. He has performed many of the most complex heart operations on newborn babies, older children with congenital heart defects, and adults with congenital heart disease. 

In addition, he has performed over 200 heart transplants in children and adults and has experience with the implantation of numerous mechanical heart support devices and the Total Artificial Heart. 

In regards to his educational background, Dr. Plunkett received his Bachelor of Science degree from Duke University and his medical degree from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. He then completed his residency training in general and cardiothoracic surgery at Duke University Medical Center. He also received subspecialty fellowship training in pediatric cardiac surgery and cardiac transplantation at UCLA Medical Center. 

His career began at the University of Illinois and the Children’s Hospital of Illinois at OSF Medical Center where he performed heart surgery on children and adults for three years prior to being recruited back to UCLA. He was an Associate Professor of Surgery and Program Director for the Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency and Fellowship Training Programs at UCLA for ten years. He then served as Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Director of the Pediatric Heart Program at the University of Kentucky for five years. 

Prior to his recent recruitment back to the Children’s Hospital of Illinois and the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Dr. Plunkett was an Associate Professor of Surgery in the Division of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. 

Actively involved in local and national committees and editorial boards, he is a member of the Congenital Heart Surgeons Society, the American Medical Association, the Southern Thoracic Surgical Association, the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and the World Society of Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery.

A Diplomate of the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, Dr. Plunkett is one of approximately 160 heart surgeons in the United States that are board-certified in pediatric and congenital heart surgery. 

Congenital heart surgery is the operative treatment of structural abnormalities involving the heart and major blood vessels. Pediatric heart surgeons offer the special care needed to fix both congenital (existing at birth) and acquired heart problems in children. They treat complex congenital heart defects in newborns, children, and adolescents, as well as adults.

A thought leader in the field of congenital heart surgery, Dr. Plunkett has conducted significant research and academic contributions throughout his career. His work is widely published and he has been recognized with numerous academic honors and teaching awards. 

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