WHEN Dr Steven Kypraios tells people what he does for a living, they are surprised when he tells them where he works and lives.
“No, I do not live in Brisbane. I live right here on the Sunshine Coast in Buderim,” he said.
Dr Kypraios is an interventional cardiologist, a heart specialist who can open up a blocked coronary artery by passing a balloon and a cylindrical metal mesh, called a stent, via an artery in your arm or leg.
This is especially handy if you are experiencing a heart attack. “Angioplasty and stenting is a
life saving procedure if you are having a heart attack and it is a very effective way of treating a newly blocked coronary artery,” Dr Kypraios said.
Dr Kypraios moved to the Coast with his family from Melbourne in 2006 after having completed his postgraduate interventional fellowship in Canada.
“I love going to the beach and it took one trip to the Coast in 2006 to convince me that this would be a great place to live, work and raise a family,” he said.
He was instrumental in setting up and developing the interventional cardiology service at Sunshine Coast Private Hospital at Buderim and is now the clinical director of Cardiac Catheter Laboratories at the fastest-growing private hospital on the Coast.
“When I arrived at Buderim, there were a number of excellent cardiologists practising at the hospital but there was no stenting service,” he said.
A stent opening a blocked artery.
“Patients requiring cardiac stenting were being sent to Brisbane hospitals, away from families and local support.”
SCPH now boasts twin, state-of-the-art cardiac catheter laboratories with 24-hour on-call availability, a full staff and a wide range of available services.
“We have been performing angioplasty and stenting procedures at SCPH for five years now with excellent results,” Dr Kypraios said.
“I am very proud of what we have created at Sunshine Coast Private Hospital. It is a local success story.”