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Cardiology Services

Barwon Health Cardiology

Barwon Health Cardiology is the leading provider of cardiac services in the Geelong region. We are a private outpatient clinic located within University Hospital Geelong, offering services to Geelong and surrounding regions. Referrals to Baron Health Cardiology can be made by a GP or health professional.

Philosophy

Barwon Health Cardiology is committed to delivering personalised, high-quality healthcare to patients in the hospital setting as well as via their Private Consultation clinic, enabling a continuum of care for patients and their families.

Barwon Health Cardiology has 11 cardiologists providing extensive cardiology services, which are supported by over 70 staff including cardiac technologists, registered nurses, radiographers and administration personnel.

Cardiologists

Chin HiewA/Prof Chin Hiew

(Director)

Interventionalist

TAVI Consulting Cardiologist

Alan AppelbeDr Alan Appelbe

Cardiac Imaging

Consulting Cardiologist 

John AmerenaA/Prof John Amerena

Heart Failure

Consulting Cardiologis

Ram Parameswaran

Dr Ram Parameswaran

Pacing & Electro Physiologist

Consulting Cardiologist

Elizabeth RyanDr Elizabeth Ryan 

Cardiac Imaging

Consulting Cardiologist 

Daryl RidleyDr Daryl Ridley

Pacing & Electro Physiologist

Consulting Cardiologist

Michael MokDr Michael Mok

Interventionalist

TAVI

Mark PerrinDr Mark Perrin

Pacing & Electro Physiologist

Catherine JaworskiDr Cathy Jaworski 

Interventionalist

Cardiac Imaging

Consulting Cardiologist

Adam HutchisonA/Prof Adam Hutchison

Interventionalist

Consulting Cardiologist

Dr Ryan Spencer

Cardiac Imaging

Consulting Cardiologist

Kate Rankin 1042978    Dr Kate Rankin

Heart Failure

Cardiac Imaging

Consulting Cardiologist


Services provided include

  • Consultations with cardiologists
  • Coronary angiography, angioplasty & stent implantation
  • Rotablator Rotational Atherectomy
  • 24-hour (seven days a week) ST Elevated Myocardial Infarction Service
  • Electrophysiological studies and radiofrequency ablation
  • Pacemaker implantation, including biventricular pacing for heart failure
  • Pacemaker evaluation
  • Defibrillator implants and replacements
  • Structural heart disease interventions including PFO/ASD closure
  • Anatomical and Functional assessment of coronary artery disease with IVUS, FFR and OCT studies
  • Echocardiography, including Transoesophageal and Stress Echo
  • Exercise stress tests, tilt table tests
  • ECGs
  • Ambulatory Cardiac Monitoring – Holter, Event and Blood Pressure Monitors
  • Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit
  • Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI)
  • Our Cardiologists also provide services to patients St John of God Hospital Geelong and Epworth Geelong

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI)

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) is a minimally-invasive alternative to open-heart surgery for people suffering from a narrowing of the aortic valve. The procedure is performed under general anaesthetic and allows patients to recover without the need for intensive care, going home after an average of only three days.

Barwon Health's University Hospital Geelong is the first and currently the only Victorian Hospital outside Melbourne, to offer the TAVI service.

TAVI is available to both public and privately insured patients with severe aortic stenosis. Referred patients will be assessed and managed by a dedicated multidisciplinary TAVI team. Referrals can be made to Dr Chin Hiew, Dr Michael Mok and Mr Michael Rowland.

Patent foramen ovale (PFO) / Atrial septal defect (ASD) closure devices

Referrals for an assessment can be made to A/Prof Chin Hiew, A/Prof Adam Hutchison or Dr Michael Mok.

Cardiology Specialist Outpatient Clinics

Barwon Health Cardiology facilitates a range of specialist outpatient clinics held in the Bellerine Centre Level 3 outpatient clinic.  Referrals to these clinics can be arranged with our dedicated Cardiology Specialist Outpatient Booking team.  The team can be contacted on 4215 1955 or emailed at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Post Discharge Clinic

The function of the post-discharge outpatient clinic is to ensure that follow-up is provided for all patients who have been admitted to hospital and have cardiac-related diagnosis.

This clinic runs weekly and is attended by Cardiology consultants and registrars. Appointments to this clinic are for a single attendance only with care plans checked to ensure there appropriateness before the care of the patient is handed over to the patients’ medical practitioner.

In the event that the patient requires ongoing specialist cardiology care, then a referral will need to be arranged for a private Cardiologist appointment.

Rhythm Clinic

The function of the Rhythm outpatient clinic is to investigate and manage all arrhythmia disorders.

This runs fortnightly and is attended by Cardiology consultants and registrars.  Attendance at this clinic can have multiple attendances before the management of the patient is handed over to the patients’ medical practitioner.  Ongoing specialist cardiology appointments will require a referral to a private cardiologists rooms.

Chronic Heart Failure Clinic

The Heart Failure clinic started more than 10 years ago to optimise the management of heart failure patients in the Geelong and greater Western Victoria community. This clinic is staffed by heart failure specialist cardiologists A/Prof. John Amerena and Dr Kate Rankin, as well as medical trainees and nurse practitioners. The clinic runs all day on Wednesdays and provides both regular follow-up for chronic stable heart failure patients and also an expedited post-discharge follow-up service for patients with newly diagnosed or recently decompensated heart failure, aiming to rapidly optimise treatment and prevent recurrent hospital admissions. The clinic also has links to the HARP program, running an education/rehabilitation course run by dedicated heart failure nurses. This clinic continues to be successful in providing timely, guideline-directed therapy to patients with heart failure syndromes whilst improving patient quality of life.

Referrals for the assessment and management of patients with heart failure are welcome and can be faxed to Geelong Cardiology Practice on 4215 1990.

Telehealth Clinic

The Telehealth outpatient clinic provides access to a Cardiology Consultant and Registrar for those patients who have difficulty in travelling long distances to attend an outpatient clinic.  Initially set up to support the Post Discharge Clinic, this clinic now supports a wider spectrum of patient cardiology needs. 

This clinic runs fortnightly and is often held with the patient’s medical practitioner so that care plans can be adjusted effectively and in a timely manner.

Consultant cardiologists

Director

Assoc. Prof. Chin Hiew B.Sc (Hons), PG Echo, PG Clinical Trials, MBBS, FRACP, FCSANZ, FSCAI 

A/Prof. Chin Hiew is Barwon Health's Director of Cardiology. Chin is a Consultant & Interventional Cardiologist and Cardiac CT specialist (Level B). He completed his MBBS at the University of Queensland and subsequently attained his FRACP in Cardiology. He did further post-graduate studies and training in Australia, USA and London, UK. He has been with Barwon Health since 2009. Chin has an interest in the application of evidence-based cardiology to clinical practice in addition to percutaneous cardiovascular intervention. He is the principal site investigator for VCOR and MIG Registries and co-investigator in many multi-centres clinical trials through the Geelong Cardiology Research Unit. He has an academic appointment with Deakin University in the School of Medicine as a Clinical Senior Lecturer and has been involved in teaching and supervisory role for medical students, cardiology registrars and fellows. He is a Fellow of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand and American Society of Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention.

Dr Alan Appelbe MBBS, FRACP, FCSANZ

Dr Appelbe graduated in 1983 and did his undergraduate training in cardiology at the Royal Melbourne and Alfred hospitals before spending two years at Emory University in USA doing post graduate training and research in echocardiography.  He has been part of the Geelong medical community for over 20 years and introduced stress echo and transoesophageal echo to Geelong.  His special interests are in the various fields of echocardiograph, especially valvular heart disease.

Assoc. Professor John Amerena MBBS, FRACP, FCSANZ - Director, Geelong Cardiology Research Unit

A/Prof Amerenas trained in Melbourne, followed by four years in the United States at the University of Michigan. Over that period of time, he worked in the fields of hypertension and hyperlipidaemia, before returning to Australia where he is now a Cardiologist at Barwon Health. He currently has appointments with Deakin University in the School of Medicine as well as the Department of Epidemiology and Preventative Medicine at Monash University. He is the director of the Geelong Cardiology Research Unit which is currently involved in many phase II – III clinical trials, as well as director of Cardiac Services at Geelong Private Hospital. While still involved in hypertension he has become involved in research in atherothrombosis, especially with respect to antithrombotic/antiplatelet therapies, particularly in the context of atrial fibrillation. Heart failure is a major interest, and he is also the Director of the Heart Failure Programme at Barwon Health. He is well-published in these areas, as well as in many other areas of cardiovascular medicine.

Dr Elizabeth Ryan MBBS, FRACP, FCSANZ

Dr Ryan is a general cardiologist with a sub-specialty of echocardiography. She graduated from the University of Melbourne medical school and undertook training for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in both general medicine and cardiology, based predominantly at the Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre. Elizabeth spent 2.5 years at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) doing an echocardiography fellowship. She has been with Barwon Health as a consultant cardiologist since 2002 and has been involved in teaching Melbourne University and now Deakin University medical students.

Dr Daryl Ridley MBBS, FRACP, FCSANZ

Dr Ridley is a cardiologist and electrophysiologist who has worked at Barwon Health Cardiology since 2004. In addition to general cardiology skills, he has a focus on the management of cardiac rhythm disorders and investigation of syncope. He has undergone advanced training in Australia and overseas for pacemaker and defibrillator implantation along with catheter ablation for cardiac arrhythmia.

Dr Mark Perrin MBBS, PhD, FRACP

Dr Perrin was born and grew up in Albury NSW. He completed his medical degree at the University of New South Wales, and went on to cardiology training at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney. He has an extensive clinical and research background in the management of cardiac rhythm disorders. He completed a PhD in drug-induced arrhythmia before pursuing postdoctoral studies and a clinical arrhythmia fellowship in Ottawa, Canada. He has a special interest in genetic arrhythmia syndromes and the management of atrial fibrillation.

Dr Michael Mok MBBS, FRACP, FCSANZ

Dr Mok is a general and interventional cardiologist practicing in the Geelong region. Michael undertook further specialist training at the Geelong and Austin Hospitals, and the Quebec Heart and Lung Institute in Canada. He has a special interest in the management of coronary artery disease via a radial artery approach and the management of structural heart conditions. He is widely published in both areas, as well as completing a fellowship in transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Michael is also actively involved in medical education as a senior clinical lecturer with Deakin University.

Dr Cathy Jaworski MBBS, FRACP

Dr Jaworski is a consultant cardiologist with dual sub-specialty training in Interventional Cardiology and Non-Invasive Cardiac Imaging. She graduated from Monash University in 2004 with honours in both MBBS and BMedSci. She completed both her basic and advanced training in Cardiology at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, gaining fellowship of RACP in 2012. Following this, she undertook an advanced multimodal imaging Fellowship focusing on cardiac MRI, cardiac CT and echocardiography at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. In 2014, she returned from an Interventional Fellowship at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, which is the largest specialist heart hospital in the United Kingdom. During this high-volume fellowship, she practiced at the cutting edge of complex Interventional Cardiology. She maintains ongoing participation in clinical research and has published in the top cardiology journals. Cathy is interested in all aspects of clinical cardiology with a particular focus on coronary intervention.

A/Prof Adam Hutchison MBBS, FRACP, MPH

A/Prof Hutchison is an interventional cardiologist who returned from Harvard University with a Master's of Public Health in 2014. His area of interest is the diagnosis and management of acute coronary syndromes. As part of his PhD Adam was a key figure in the MonAMI study, enabling ambulances to definitively diagnose ST elevation myocardial infarction and expedite critical hospital-based therapy. This model of care was subsequently adopted throughout metropolitan Melbourne and Geelong.  Adam has lectured at Monash University and is an examiner for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

Dr Ryan Spencer MBBS FRACP

After growing up in rural Victoria Ryan studied medicine at Monash University and graduated in 2006. He then moved to Geelong and completed his junior doctor training at Geelong Hospital, becoming the Chief Resident in his final year. He then spent two years training in Cardiology at the Austin Hospital before returning to Geelong to complete his advanced training. An interest in echocardiography led to a 12-month fellowship at the University of British Columbia and Vancouver General Hospital in Canada where he was extensively involved in structural heart interventions. In 2016, Ryan undertook a second fellowship in cardiac pacing and electrophysiology at the Austin Hospital while also working at Barwon Health Cardiology. Ryan's other main passion is teaching and he is currently completing a Masters in Health Profession Education at Monash while teaching medical students at Deakin University.

Dr Kate Rankin MBBS (Hons) FRACP

Dr Kate Rankin is a consultant cardiologist with dual sub-speciality training in echocardiography and advanced heart failure. She graduated from Monash University in 2008 with honours. She completed her cardiology training at University Hospital, Geelong and the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. She then undertook two clinical fellowships at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at Toronto General Hospital in Canada from 2017 to 2019 in echocardiography and advanced heart failure and transplantation. During this time she performed a large volume of complex echocardiography cases (including stress and transoesophageal echocardiography), was published in major cardiology journals and presented research at international conferences. She also gained extensive experience in the management of advanced heart failure including mechanical circulatory support and cardiac transplantation.

Kate's practice covers all aspects of cardiology with a particular focus on the care of patients with acute and chronic heart failure and the diagnostic use of echocardiography. She also has a special interest in the fields of cardio-oncology and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Dr Ram Parameswaran MBBS, MD, PhD, FRACP

Dr Ram Parameswaran is a specialist cardiologist and electrophysiologist with a passion for managing heart rhythm disorders. 

After completing his undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in India, he moved to Australia and completed his cardiology training at Launceston General Hospital, Tasmania. Subsequently, Ram undertook his subspecialty training in cardiac electrophysiology and device implantation at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Sydney, The Royal Melbourne and The Alfred Hospitals and completed his PhD from the University of Melbourne in 2021. His research investigated the novel mechanisms of atrial fibrillation, the commonest heart rhythm abnormality encountered in clinical practice and provided unique insights into the abnormal patterns of electrical activation that results in this heart rhythm disorder. He has authored several research publications in leading peer-reviewed journals. 

Ram holds his public appointment at University Hospital Geelong where he performs catheter ablations for complex atrial and ventricular arrhythmias and implants a wide range of cardiac devices.

For Health Professionals

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Cardiology referral templates

Last Modified: Wednesday, 14 February 2024

Contact

Barwon Health Cardiology
Kardinia House, Level 4
University Hospital Geelong
Cnr Ryrie and Bellerine streets
Geelong 3220

Phone: 03 4215 1955

Fax: 03 4215 1990

Email: [email protected]