Director Gold Coast Cardiothoracic Unit - John Flynn Hospital

VMO Gold Coast Private, Pindara and Tweed District Hospitals

The goal of Gold Coast Heart Surgery is to provide safe and best practice cardiothoracic care.   Our Centre of Excellence in Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery was established to drive best outcome in surgery as part of an all encompassing Centre of Excellence in Surgery at John Flynn Hospital.

Our desire for excellence is driven by ongoing education, peer-to-peer audit, multidisciplinary co-operation, teaching, college examinations and research.

We have a dedication to minimally invasive surgery in aortic surgery, mitral valve repair and thoroscopic lung and tumour resection.  Our TAVR (percutaneous aortic valve replacement) programme involves a multidisciplinary team of cardiologists, rehabilitation with surgeons to provide most appropriate aortic valve replacement strategy for every patient.

Mitral repair and replacement has been provided by traditional open approach but our focus is upon minimally invasive (keyhole) and percutaneous (via the femoral vein) Mitraclip methods.  

Chest surgery in our practice for lung and mediastinal pathology is almost exclusively via thoroscopic (VATS/keyhole) approach.  Our multidisciplinary team of respiratory physicians, radiologists, radiation specialists and oncologists determine best plan for each patient with chest conditions especially lung cancer.  Recovery is far less painful and faster with a VATS approach.

I maintain a commitment to self-education and that for our team, visiting university students and junior doctors.  I sponsor members of the team to attend national and international conferences.  I was convenor for the ANZCTS national scientific conference on the Gold Coast.  I am a committed member of the RACS Academy of Surgical Educators and participate in College of Surgeons Physiology and Standard Setting Examination Comittees.  Myself and the team regularly travel to other units at home and abroad to maintain and improve our service.  We have students and other specialists regularly view our surgical team in action.

I maintain a strong interest in research and innovation which began first as a research degree in neurophysiology looking at real time processing of visual information in rabbit retina.  As a member of the International Asia-Pacific Medical Advisory Board for Medtronic I have the privilege to contribute opinion on latest medical device development and implementation.  My latest scientific research was to be involved in artificial heart development at the MERF centre.

Dr Ben Anderson also consults  monthly at

Goonellabah Medical Centre 616 Ballina Road Goonellabah NSW 2480