2012 Heart Gala Honoree
Luis A. Tomatis, M.D., FACS, FACC Director of Medical Affairs for the Richard M. DeVos Family
Educated in his native Argentina, Dr. Luis Tomatis, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.C.C. received his Medical Degree at Rosario Medical School in 1954. He trained in General Surgery in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and then in 1956 he came to the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit to train in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. In 1965 he moved to Grand Rapids where he worked at Butterworth Hospital (now Spectrum Health) for thirty years as a Cardiovascular Surgeon. During that time Dr. Tomatis became Chief of Butterworth Hospital’s Thoracic and Cardiovascular Department and Clinical Professor of Surgery at Michigan State University.
In 1983 Dr. Tomatis received a four-year grant from the Kellogg Foundation to study "Cost Containment in Surgery." Based in Grand Rapids, this study was done in conjunction with Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. On December 31, 1995, Dr. Tomatis concluded his surgical career to become the Founding President of the Van Andel Institute, and from 2000 to the present he has acted in the capacity of Director of Medical Affairs to the Richard M. DeVos Family.
Dr. Tomatis has given his time and talents to Aquinas College and the Grand Rapids community. In return, he has been honored to receive such awards as the Galaxy Award of the National Kidney Foundation and the Recognition Award from the Michigan Society of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons. He is a member of Butterworth Hospital’s Distinguished Physician Society and was the first recipient of the Emeritus Lifetime Achievement Award at Spectrum Health. He has also been honored as a Paul Harris Fellow of the Grand Rapids Rotary Club; as Ciudadano Ilustre de la Ciudad de Rosario, Argentina; as an Honorary Member of the Peruvian Society of Cardiovascular Surgery, the Argentine VascularSociety, Sociedad Venezolana de Angiologiay Cirugia Cardiovascular, and the Colegio Argentino de Cirujanos Cardiovasculares; as Doctor "Honoris Causa" of the University of Rosario, and as an Honorary Doctor of Science at Grand Valley State University.