Helios Rhein-Ruhr: New head physician for renowned ENT department
Recurring awards, national recognition for its high-quality patient care and special expertise in plastic-reconstructive tumor surgery: the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the Helios St. Anna Clinic in Duisburg-Huckingen has made a name for itself over the last few years. This is mainly due to the expertise of the team there, to which the soon-to-be new Head Physician Dr. Florian Sack (46) has belonged since the start of his career 21 years ago. The man from Kettwig is now taking over the baton from his long-time mentor and companion Prof. Dr. med. Stephan Remmert (70), who is officially taking (partial) retirement after decades of great success at the clinic. The two have known and appreciated each other for a long time and have always worked together in a spirit of trust over the years. For Florian Sack, this was a more than valuable experience:
“By working together on a daily basis for more than two decades, he has significantly shaped my surgical training and also my leadership skills.”
The Kettwiger by choice has already been closely involved in the management of the department for five years as a senior consultant. Florian Sack began his career directly after his studies at the former Malteser St. Anna site as a junior doctor, also completed his ENT specialist training here and went on to become a senior consultant. He knows the department like no other and is therefore also aware of its potential. “Thanks to the outstanding expertise of Stephan Remmert, who built up and shaped plastic-reconstructive tumor surgery in the head and neck area himself, this is also the focus of the department.” Due to the high number of cases and years of experience, the team is now aiming for certification as a specialized head and neck tumour center by the German Cancer Society (DKG) as the next step.
You can tell how committed and passionate Florian Sack is about his new role from his very first sentences. “I really like my job, it's just as great as the team here,” smiles the Munich native. It has always been important to him that they can rely on each other in the department, communicate with each other as equals and feel like a team across all professional groups. This will remain the case in his new role. Structural changes due to additional requirements, such as the new hospital plan or increasing digitalization, are also on his agenda.
His “foster father” Stephan Remmert is also certain that he will master all of this very well: “I trust him completely and know that the department is in the best hands with him.” The renowned ear, nose and throat specialist took over the management of the clinic in 2003, Florian Sack joined in 2004 and experienced first-hand how his boss continued to expand the department and establish high-quality medicine and modern procedures. Patients from all over Europe now come to the clinic in Huckingen, especially for the treatment of tongue cancer, which has always been a specialty of the outgoing head physician. Even a surgical method in plastic-reconstructive tumor surgery is named after him, the so-called Remmert flap. This technique, which he developed, allows the volume of the tongue to be reconstructed in a complex operation lasting several hours. His name also appears on a medical textbook on the “Reconstruction of the upper air and food passages”. For someone who has dedicated himself to his profession in this way, leaving the clinic after more than 40 years of work and his team is not easy. “It will be a change for me, that's for sure. And it won't be possible without medicine.” His work as a Senior Consultant will therefore continue, albeit outside Duisburg.
Clinic Managing Director Claudia Meßthaler also has nothing but warm words: “With Prof. Remmert, we are losing a truly outstanding physician who has significantly shaped and developed the profile of this department and the entire location. As an internationally recognized expert, he has also succeeded in establishing a clinical beacon that is visible far beyond the city limits. We would like to thank him very much for his excellent work and the many years we have spent together.” However, it is just as certain that Florian Sack is a strong successor and can draw on the best “apprenticeship years” as well as his own great talent and specialist knowledge. Claudia Meßthaler has no doubt about this: “His focus is also on plastic-reconstructive tumor surgery, so together with the team, the department will continue to cover the entire spectrum of ENT medicine in a high-quality manner. We are therefore absolutely convinced that he will continue to lead the department in a great way.”
The most important key figures about the ENT clinic at the St. Anna site
The multi-award-winning Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic at the Helios St. Anna Klinik Duisburg, which has been in existence for several decades, has continued to develop and currently treats around 4,000 inpatient cases a year, including around 800 surgical procedures on children. In addition, the department treats more than 2,000 patients on an outpatient basis, for example by means of short procedures or via the well-known outpatient clinic at the clinic. With around 150 primary tumor cases per year, the team is also well above the minimum volume required for a certified head and neck tumor center.
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