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London has lost its top heart doctor, who charges London Health Sciences Centre no longer considers cardiac care a top priority as it makes cuts to reduce its deficit.

Bob Kiaii, former chief of cardiac care at LHSC and a pioneer in robotic-assisted cardiac surgery, has moved to Sacramento, Calif., where he is heading up the cardiac unit at the University of California.

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“It is critical, I think, for the public to understand the status of things in London,” he said in a recent interview from California. “I trained in London, I did my medical school there. It has been a huge part of my life.”

Kiaii said leaving the city where he began his career 25 years ago was a tough decision, but he fears health care services here are being diminished in the current climate of restraint.

Facing provincial funding restraints, LHSC “did not lobby for cardiac care. We were not given funding for the care we needed,” he said. “I was not capable of providing the best patient care.”