Health

New surgery, cardiology chairs hired at PBMC in Riverhead

Peconic Bay Medical Center recently announced the addition of new chairs of surgery and cardiology.

Dr. Luis Davila Santini has been named the hospital’s new chair of surgery. Dr. John Kassotis has been named PBMC’s new chair of cardiology. In those positions, they will provide senior oversight of the hospital-based services at the Riverhead facility.

Dr. Davila Santini, a vascular surgeon by training, will be working in PBMC’s state-of- the-art surgical facilities at the Kanas Center for Advanced Surgery. At the Kanas Center, the hospitals surgeons perform minimally invasive advanced, general and robotic surgery.

Prior to arriving at PBMC, Dr. Davila Santini worked at Bay Shore’s South Shore University Hospital for the past 11 years. He worked there as the hospital’s director of vascular surgery services for the eastern region of Northwell Health. In this leadership role, he developed a network of surgeons that provided state-of-the-art emergent and elective vascular services to five regional hospitals.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to be a part of the Peconic Bay Medical Center family,” he said. “The challenge of continuing to strive for improvement on the services we provide is something that I definitely can align with and my goal is to continue to push and devote the energy to develop programs that have already a very good foundation but just need time and support to continue to thrive.”

He is hoping to improve access to care. “That means every gamut, from first encounter in the outpatient office to preoperative preparation,” Dr. Davila Santini said. “We’re working on the logistics of navigating through having surgery at the hospital as well as improving and increasing the availability of services that currently exist so that we can maximize the population that can stay close to home.”

Dr. Kassotis was an engineer by training. He said his goal was to work with artificial intelligence to help people with disabilities. However, the death of his mother was one of the inspirations for him to go back to medical school, training at Columbia University.

Dr. Kassotis will be working out of the hospital’s Kanas Regional Heart Center, which contains a cardiac catheteriation lab as well as an electrophysiology suite.

His areas of specialty include general cardiology, electrophysiology and heart failure.

Throughout his career, Dr. Kassotis has held multiple roles in his field of expertise, including director of the clinical cardiac electrophysiology section at New York Methodist Hospital. He later became the clinical professor and director of the clinical cardiac electrophysiology laboratory and section at SUNY/Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.

“Peconic Bay is world class,” he said. “I am very fortunate. I have inherited a really stellar group of people here with an administration that I think is phenomenal.”

Both Dr. Kassotis and Dr. Davila Santini will be working together. They are planning to bring a groundbreaking procedure for patients with advanced congestive heart failure, along with other advancements.

Amy Loeb, executive director at PBMC, said she is excited about their addition to the hospital.

“Both doctors have shown the utmost commitment to expanding services and providing the highest quality medical care, thus further expanding our footprint and positive impact on the East End,” she said.