Two of Dubai's leading hospitals have added to their cardiology team with the appointment of German Heart Centre's Chairman, Dr Klaus Kallmayer, as director of interventional cardiology at Welcare and of all cardiology services at City Hospital.
 
Dr Kallmayer, who will retain his position as chairman of German Heart Centre Bremen (GHCB) in Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC), will offer his wealth of experience to the institutions, which has been built up over three decades practicing in Germany.
 
City Hospital will be the UAE's leading cardiology Centre of Excellence, boasting a state-of-the-art cardiac catheterisation laboratory offering facilities unrivalled in the region. Welcare's interventional services will also be concentrated at City Hospital when it opens in 2008.
 
Dr Kallmayer says: "It's an honour to be trusted with leading the heart departments of these top hospitals and I am sure both will benefit from our experience gained in some of the most renowned cardiac units in Europe and the US.
 
"At City Hospital we are planning to establish a cardiology service of a quality unparalleled in the UAE. As required by DHCC, this must happen in affiliation with a major international centre and German Heart Centre Bremen, which is already physically present with a branch at DHCC, has been approached to lend its cooperation.
 
"Patients will benefit from the partnership as there will be regular transfers of input into the Dubai program through exchange and introduction of quality control mechanisms already in place in Germany.
 
"As I have already established two extensive heart programs in Germany and have experience in the UK, US and UAE, I have personally accepted the challenge of taking on this task. The program will require time to develop, so we will immediately begin at the present facility at Welcare and it will have matured by the time we commence at City Hospital."
 
The positions will be hands-on and include the directing and managing of both operations. German cardiologists will perform interventional procedures at the Welcare cardiac catheterisation lab and will personally supervise work done by the other specialists.
 
Quality standards will benefit through the introduction of international quality control programs, with benchmarking against European and American standards and the standardisation of procedures and materials and streamlining of processes. The service will also be improved through postgraduate teaching and through daily routines, life examples and the exchange of opinions and sharing of experiences between colleagues. There will also be experienced professionals available to perform complicated, high-end procedures.
 
From this point on any patient due for a relevant cardiac procedure can specifically request to be treated by German Heart Centre Bremen cardiologists, including Dr Kallmayer and his colleagues.