George J. Brandon Bravo Bruinsma

Isala Hosipital
Netherlands

Dr. George J. Brandon Bravo Bruinsma obtained his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Amsterdam, and from the Utrecht University, The Netherlands, respectively. He was appointed Chief of the CTS department at the ISALA hospital, a non-academic 900 beds, tertiary teaching hospital in the Netherlands and worked there for more than 20 years. He was a member of the first Commission for the Quality of Cardiothoracic Surgery in the Netherlands. He is specialized in TAVI and participated as co-Chair in the board of the Dutch TAVI workinggroup. In 2015 he completed the Patient Safety Executive Development Program from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Boston, USA, and was appointed Chair of the Patient Safety Commission of the Dutch Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery. Together with his colleague and cardiothoracic anesthesiologist, dr. Arno Nierich, they developed the Isala Safety Check for Cardiac Surgery. They published multiple scientific papers on the improvement of safety and outcome of Cardiac Surgery by applying a better Trans Esophageal Echocardiography (TEE)-imaging technique (using the A-View endotracheal balloon), better communication and adaptation of surgical strategy. Dr. Brandon is the initiator of the Code of Conduct for Medical Specialists in the ISALA hospital and has emphasized for years the importance of the relation between behavior of medical professionals and patient safety.