New cardiologist starts at HSA

Dr Stefan Ott, Cardiologist

Friday,  July 29, 2005

The Health Services Authority (HSA) has made a fresh start in cardiology with the arrival of Dr Stefan Ott.

Cardiology has been a controversial topic in recent months with the abrupt departure of the previous cardiologist Dr Nerraj Prasad and the debate over whether the George Town Hospital should have a cardiac catheterisation lab.

Since he has only been on board from 18 July, Dr Ott said it was too soon to discuss a cardiac cath lab, but it wasn’t too early to talk about heart disease prevention.

“Heart disease is the leading killer in the western world,” said Dr Ott. “You can pour money into getting the latest high tech equipment, but we don’t put enough emphasis on educating people to be healthy in order to prevent disease.”

Dr Ott explained that unhealthy habits such as eating too much, smoking and lack of exercise causes a chain reaction that leads to obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

“The basic problem that we have to face is we need to get moving and do more physical activity, to stop smoking and not eat so many calories,” said Dr Ott.

“A cath lat can try to repair the damage that is done, but we should always remember to teach our children and people on how to not get there.”

Dr Ott added the HSA has a comprehensive range of non-invasive cardiology services including EKG, cardiac ultrasound, stress testing as well as some partly invasive services such as pacemakers.

Dr Ott comes to the Cayman Islands from Wiesbaden, Germany where he was an Associate Professor of Cardiology. His experience includes seeing an average of 2000 patients a year, with about 25 percent being invasive procedures.

Acting Chief Executive Officer Shirline Henriques said the hospital is fortunate in recruiting the services of such an experienced professional of the calibre of Dr Ott.

“The appointments of Dr Ott and further enhancements which are being considered for our cardiology services, broaden the range of cardiology services on Island for our patients,” said Ms Henriques. “It also reduces the many incidental expenses of offshore medical care, as well as the emotional trauma that many patients undergo as a result of being away from their families while they are off-Island for diagnosis and treatment.”

In early May, HSA announced it was considering proposals in obtaining a cardiac cath lab in the wake of reports by two leading medical doctors that a cardiac cath lab was critical to health care.

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