Dr. Lawrence Griffith, medical cardiologist and professor of medicine, at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, is quick to dismiss any suggestion that he is some sort of god or hero in his field.

?There is nothing magic about me or Johns Hopkins,? he says modestly. ?Everybody here goes about their work very quietly.?

He even confesses that he is ?embarrassed? to be singled out by the Bermuda Heart Foundation, which this week has planned special events to ?celebrate the career of the man who has saved the lives of so many of Bermuda?s family members and friends? for he firmly believes that the it is his partnership with the fine local doctors that accounts for all the successes.

While that may be so, to the thousands of his grateful Bermuda patients who have undergone treatment at the prestigious Baltimore institution, Dr. Griffith will always be very special, and they remain huge fans of his.

Hamilton Mayor Lawson Mapp, a bypass patient, is typical.

?I was struck by his warm and personal concern for his patients,? he says. ?When you are going up to have a very traumatic operation, and don?t know whether or not you are coming home in a box, Dr. Griffith alleviates all your fears and puts you at ease, which is very helpful.?

The respected American cardiologist?s relationship with Bermuda stretches back to the early 1980s when Dr. Beresford Swan sent the first local patient to him. On his return home, Dr. Swan enquired whether Dr. Griffith took care of other patients.

?Of course I do,? was the response.

?That was the start of what has turned out to be one of those very good relationships which I would call more of a partnership between the doctors in Bermuda and Johns Hopkins,? Dr. Griffith says. ?I was the fellow whom most of the patients saw when the came up after that. Over 20 years I have probably seen between 2,900 and 3,000 of them.?

In fact, the physician says the numbers from Bermuda are now ?almost more? than he can handle. While a smaller percentage travel independently by commercial aircraft, most arrive by air ambulance. In December, 2003 alone an estimated 16 patients travelled that way.

Asked if these figures indicate an unusually high amount of cardiovascular disease in Bermuda, Dr. Griffith says he does not believe our problem is ?any more or less prevalent than it is in the US?, and he explains that the reason why local patients requiring heart catheterisation, coronary angioplasty, a bypass, or the insertion of stents are routinely sent abroad for treatment is because these procedures are not available here. Far from suggesting that this is because local physicians are somehow inferior, however, Dr. Griffith is fulsome in his praise of their expertise.

?I cannot emphasise strongly enough what superb care patients have gotten in Bermuda,? he says. ?They have been well maintained and very well prepared to come to Baltimore by your physicians, and they come when they are supposed to come. There are people who have gone into your hospital?s Emergency Department with chest pains, the internist has recognised that they need to move quickly, and 20 hours from the time they arrived at King Edward they have had an angioplasty at Johns Hopkins. That just shows how well the system works.?

In fact, so close is the partnership between the Bermuda internists and himself that Dr. Griffith says he is on the telephone with them two, three or four times a day.

?When your doctors call about a case I understand what they are talking about. I can ask questions and pre-plan because I will know a fair amount about the patient, and there are several options. Because we talk the same language there are very few surprises when the patient shows up in Baltimore. Your doctors are really good.?

Indeed, in addition to his general high regard for the local doctors with whom he deals, Dr. Griffith describes Dr. Shane Marshall as ?an unbelievable doctor whose agenda is to have health care in Bermuda get better and better?.

?It has been a treat to relate to him and the other doctors that are there because I can tell what is happening down there and it is good.?

Dr. Marshall is chief of cardiology at King Edward, and also chairman of the Bermuda Heart Foundation.

Recognising that patients coming from ?out of town? for treatment are even more anxious in unfamiliar surroundings, Dr. Griffith says his first task is to spend time with them so that they feel unrushed, and gain confidence in the hospital and himself.

?I hope that patients believe I understand what their problem is. When we get through the diagnostic procedure, then we talk over their treatment options, and I can make a recommendation. I tell them what to expect, and lay it all out for them.

?Doctors are talking all the time about the risks and benefits of one treatment versus another, so I do think that, for the most part, between the preparation by the Bermuda doctor and the preparation when they first come into Johns Hopkins does a lot, but it doesn?t ever completely overcome their concerns about what is happening. It is a big deal to come for open heart surgery, and even an angioplasty or to have a stent, and it can sometimes be very overwhelming to patients and their families.?

Nevertheless, Dr.Griffith is impressed with the way Bermuda patients respond to his recommendations.

?They have been very well prepared by their physicians before they come to Baltimore. I took a sabbatical in Europe a long time ago and the patients there were very trusting. The Bermudians are also very trusting, and I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times they have not gone ahead with what I suggested,? he says. ?They are very able to understand all of the variables in a situation, but when the recommendation is made they take a big breath and say, ?Let?s get on with it?.?

Thanks, too, to the advance preparation by their doctors here, there are ?very few wasted days? in their treatment plan at Johns Hopkins ? a real ?plus? for Bermudians who inevitably are anxious to return home as soon as possible.

Dr. Griffith reveals that some of the biggest cases he has dealt with have come from the Island, but says most of them have been treated successfully.

?It doesn?t always turn out right, but I don?t know too many patients who have died here.?

The success rate he puts down to Johns Hopkins being ?a wonderful institution?.

?It is unbelievably good in the sense that there are few things we have not seen before. Most of us have been involved with big and smaller cases.

?We tackle cases that are relatively easy and ones that are not. Johns Hopkins has a long tradition of quality care. It has 1,200 beds and what goes on here is all research. It also has a medical school and medical students under foot to bring out the best in everybody, and nurses for whom the red carpet would be rolled out if they went on to work elsewhere.?

And speaking of nurses, Dr. Griffith says they love taking care of Bermudians.

?Bermudians are wonderful, lovely patients. The nurses know that when I have a patient, he or she is from Bermuda, and they scramble to take care of them.?

Then there is Nancy Grad, Dr. Griffith?s super administrative assistant, who is also popular with local patients.

?Nancy is the first person who calls and speaks to them representing Hopkins, and she is wonderful. Patients come to find her, and bring her notes, flowers, or a little something,? her boss says.

Local patients will no doubt be delighted to know that Mrs. Grad is also coming to Bermuda this week for Bermuda Heart Foundation events. Ironically, while Dr. Griffith has been to the Island to talk to insurance companies, he has met very few of the doctors with whom he interacts every day ? and then only those who have come to the US for medical courses.

?It is going to be fun for me,? he says. ?I have never come to Bermuda for a consultation, which I think shows just how good the care is that Bermuda patients get.?