William "Cliff" Kitchens, M.D. is a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon who also serves as the surgical director of the Chest Center of the Carolinas.
As surgical director, Dr. Kitchens works closely with an expert team of health care providers including pulmonologists, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists to coordinate timely, comprehensive care for patients. A primary focus of his leadership is expediting the time from diagnosis to treatment—specifically at the earliest stage when lung cancer is most treatable.
Additionally, Dr. Kitchens collaborates with thoracic surgery colleagues at UNC and across the region to continue to provide leading-edge lung cancer care with a patient-centered approach. Through this enhanced structure, the FirstHealth Cancer Center continues its mission to offer high-quality, comprehensive cancer care close to home for those in the Sandhills region.
Dr. Kitchens brings extensive experience in cardiothoracic surgery and a deep commitment to advancing cancer care and improving outcomes.
He joined FirstHealth in 2017 after serving at the University Medical Group – Cardiothoracic Surgery in Augusta, Georgia. A magna cum laude graduate of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., he earned his medical degree from Emory University in Atlanta. He completed his residency in general surgery at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, where he also engaged in postdoctoral fellowship research in intimal hyperplasia and trauma, sepsis and inflammation.
Fellowship-trained in cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Utah Affiliated Hospitals in Salt Lake City, he has nearly 30 years of surgical experience.
