Our team

Alaaddin Yilmaz

Cardiothoracic Surgeon

Dr. Alaaddin Yilmaz (born in 1970 in Emirdag, Turkey) graduated from Rijksuniversiteit Gent as a physician in 1996. He started his general surgery training at St. Jozef Ziekenhuis and Maria Middelares Ziekenhuis in Ghent. He completed his training at St. Antonius Ziekenhuis Nieuwegein in the Netherlands under Prof. van Swieten.

Urbain Mees

Cardiothoracic Surgeon

Dr. Urbain Mees (born in Wilrijk in 1955) graduated from Universiteit Antwerpen as a physician in 1981. He started his General Surgery training at Universiteit Antwerpen and then trained as a cardiothoracic surgeon at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

The hospitalization team

The nursing team of the department of cardiothoracic surgery, headed by Bert Vanhoecke (head nurse), consists of 22 nurses. Each one of them offers you due care and a helping hand after surgery. They support you during the healing process and help you regain your independence as soon as possible. If you have questions or problems, you can always contact them.

Instrumentalists

The cardiac surgeons are assisted during the operation by surgery nurses. 8 of them received special training in instrumentation during heart procedures.

Perfusion department

The perfusion department consists of three clinical perfusionists: Jeroen Lehaen, Jean Pauwels and Pascal Starinieri.

As part of the multidisciplinary team, perfusionists create the best possible conditions so that the other team members can provide the best possible care to the patient. During heart surgery they take over the vital functions of the patient by operating the heart lung machine.