Charles Willekes, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Grand Rapids, MINPI 1801868583
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $14,950 of the $18,845 with a category attached, or 79.3%. 10 manufacturers reported payments, led by Medtronic at 49.4% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $8,882 and has fallen 98.6% since, to $121 in 2025.
Across 59 payments — averaging $319.40 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$9K
- Atricure, Inc.$9K
- Johnson & Johnson$184
- Abbott$102
- Baxter Healthcare$60
- Abiomed$54
- plus $107 from 4 others
Across 9 payments — averaging $54,607 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Atricure, Inc.$491K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$14,95079%
- Travel & lodging$2,32012%
- Food & beverage$1,5758%
General payments by program year
Who reported the general payments
Companies are grouped under their corporate parent — a single manufacturer often files under several CMS reporting entities. Research and ownership payments are counted separately and are not in this table.
| Company | Payments | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 29 | $9,309 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 10 | $9,029 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 8 | $184 |
| Abbott | 2 | $102 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 3 | $60 |
| Abiomed | 2 | $54 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 2 | $40 |
| Medwest Associates | 1 | $27 |
| Artivion, Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 1 | $14 |
What the payments were tied to
Products named in the reported payments. Only payments of $100 or more are attributed here — the typical reported payment nationally is a meal worth about $16, and listing those product-by-product would be noise.
- Mosaic$7,220
- SYNERGY ABLATION SYSTEM$6,399
- ATRICURE CRYOICE CRYOSPHERE CRYOABLATION SYSTEM$2,500
- Simulus$1,513
How this compares
$18,845 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 182 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Michigan.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Michigan →
Medicare billing
What this is not: this is the amount Original Medicare Part B allowed for services this provider billed in 2024. It is not their income. It excludes Medicare Advantage — now more than half of all Medicare enrollment — along with Medicaid and all commercial insurance, and it is gross practice revenue before staff, rent, supplies and malpractice premiums. CMS also suppresses any figure covering ten or fewer patients, so low-volume providers appear smaller than they are.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Grand Rapids
- John ParisGrand Rapids$226K
- Stephane Leung Wai SangGrand Rapids$85K
- John HeiserGrand Rapids$57K
- Robert HookerGrand Rapids$52K
- Marzia LeaccheGrand Rapids$40K
- Geoffrey LamGrand Rapids$17K
- Jordan GroskurthGrand Rapids$16K
- Phillip CampGrand Rapids$15K
- David RanneyGrand Rapids$14K
- Behrooz ShabahangGrand Rapids$14K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Billing: Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners, data year 2024. Original Medicare Part B only.
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.