LEWISTON – Gary Isaacs and his mother, Hazel, residents of Grenada, were Central Maine Medical Center’s guests recently when Gary came to the Central Maine Heart and Vascular Institute for cardiac valve surgery.

CMHVI cardiologist Dr. Mark Lanzieri has assisted with a cardiology clinic in Grenada on at least an annual basis since 2001, when the service was established by the International Center for Caribbean Studies, a division of St. George’s University, and the Grenadian government.

When he evaluated Gary at one of the clinics, Lanzieri thought CMHVI could help the young man with a cardiac valve ailment he developed as the consequence of a bout with rheumatic fever.

At CMHVI, cardiothoracic surgeons Dr. Richard Cochran and Dr. Carmine Frumiento repaired two of Gary’s cardiac valves. Following his discharge from CMHVI, Gary and his mother stayed at CMMC’s Arbor House until his doctors decided it was safe for him to return home.

Lanzieri said the Grenada cardiology clinic is an important service to residents of the three-island nation located in the southern Caribbean, not far from the shores of Venezuela. In addition to serving patients on site in Grenada, the clinic helps arrange patient transport to hospitals in other countries when more intensive services are needed.