Biography
Ronald Pacis, D.O., is a fellowship-trained cardiologist with MyMichigan Health’s comprehensive heart and vascular team. This experienced team specializes in using a multidisciplinary approach to managing cardiovascular disease and includes cardiologists, electrophysiologists, heart failure and structural heart specialists, as well as vascular and cardiovascular surgeons. Dr. Pacis works with patients who have a variety of cardiac-related conditions such as coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis, peripheral vascular disease, valvular and structural heart disease, congenital heart defects and other complex cardiac conditions. “I come from a family of health care providers, including my grandfather who was a general practitioner in the Philippines, my grandmother who was a nurse, and my mother who is a retired psychiatrist,” he said. “Being a health care provider doesn’t mean that my family members are immune to the effects of disease. My father had coronary artery bypass grafting almost 30 years ago, my grandfather passed away from prostate cancer, and my grandmother passed away from a stroke due to atrial fibrillation. A combination of these experiences led me to pursue a career an as invasive cardiologist, which provides me a good balance of clinic, hospital and procedural-based services.”
Philosophy of Care
When it comes to his philosophy of care, Dr. Pacis looks at each patient as an individual and works hard to balance their wishes for advanced care versus their disease processes. “I work hard to provide cost-effective medical care in line with patient goals through education and an understanding of each individual’s social situations. I strongly believe that effective health care can only be achieved with open and honest communication, so I try to approach medicine as a friend advising another friend. I try to get my patients involved in their health care by educating them on what is best practice, listening to what they’re willing or able to do to achieve a collaborative approach to their care.”
Special Interests and Procedures
As an invasive cardiologist Dr. Pacis enjoys all aspects of diagnostic testing, including transesophageal echocardiograms, stress echocardiography, nuclear stress testing, transthoracic echocardiograms, loop recorder implants, and diagnostic right and left heart catheterizations. He also specializes in single chamber and dual chamber pacemaker insertion and leadless pacemaker implantation. “I think that with good education and aggressive cholesterol management, we can prevent a lot of heart attacks, peripheral vascular disease, and strokes,” he said. In his free-time, Dr. Pacis enjoys lifting weights, as well as riding his bicycle and electric scooter. He also enjoys environmental and portrait photography. Dr. Pacis and his wife MaryRose have two teenage sons, Xander and Xavier.
