Heart surgeon Prêtre moves on to Lausanne

René Prêtre, elected Swiss of the Year in 2009, and a renowned children’s heart surgeon, is to leave Zurich University Children’s Hospital, it has been announced.

Prêtre will move in August 2012 to the University Hospital in Lausanne, where he will become medical director of cardio-vascular surgery.

The move is according to the surgeon’s wishes, said the Zurich University Children’s Hospital in a statement on Friday. However, Prêtre will not sever ties with the Zurich hospital.

Prêtre, 53, grew up on a farm in the French-speaking Jura and studied medicine in Geneva. As head of paediatric cardiac surgery at the University Children’s Hospital, he carries out about 300 operations a year.

He was voted Swiss of the Year by viewers on Swiss public television in 2009. The surgeon was not, however, able to pick up the award in person because he was operating on children in Mozambique as part of charitable work he does there once a year.

Prêtre has been both a figurehead and a popular figure during his eight years in Zurich, the statement added. A successor has not yet been appointed.