Banner Health welcomed cardiologist, Dr. Marek Z. Piatek, M.D. to the Page family of doctors. He began working in the clinic last November and hopes his visits will be the start of a long relationship with Banner.

Dr. Piatek works at the Arizona Heart Center in Phoenix but he works at the Page facility two days a month.

Dr. Piatek (pronounced pē-tik) is of Polish descent and has been interested in becoming a doctor since he was very young, due in large part to the influence of his father, who was a veterinarian.

Dr. Piatek attended the Poznan University of Medical in Pozan, Poland. He graduated in 1992 and took a couple years off while living in New York to prepare for his residency at New York University, which he started in 1994 and completed in 1997. In 2004, he gained a fellowship to begin his training as a cardiologist at Mount Sinai in New York.

“[The heart] has always fascinated me,” he said. “Cardiac functions have always fascinated me since I started medical school and I was always researching simple cardiac functions here and there. Then I was lucky enough to become a cardiologist. I mainly do consultation work and referrals so I am not an invasive cardiologist surgeon. My interest is in coronary heart diseases, which is valvular heart disease, including stenosis or congenital abnormality of the valves.”

He feels that one of the most common risk factors of the heart is hypertension, and encourages his patients to avoid heart problems by living a healthy lifestyle.

“My main role here is to prevent, recognize and treat cardiovascular problems,” he said.  “Awareness and education leads to prevention. People who still smoke and still abuse alcohol will have a negative effect on the heart. There are also people who don’t comply with their medication. People need to be educated to be a part of the whole mechanism to make society healthy.”

Dr. Piatek says he loves living in the Page area and its beautiful scenery, something he tries to soak in when he drives or  in from the Valley.

“There is nothing wrong with Page, it’s beautiful and there is a lot of diversity here,” he said. “I feel happy and fortunate for the opportunity. I am also happy to help patients with long travels.”

Dr. Piatek jokes that he enjoys the weather because growing up in Poland was very different.

“Growing up in Poland is cold. Its miserable! It has an overcast and cold and its so dark and miserable. But the climate is warming and its summer now.

“I am very happy to be here I feel welcome. It’s a beautiful place and I am lucky to be here two days a month, I feel blessed.”