Discover Benelux | Flemish Cosmetic Surgery | Love the New You
Doctors Patrick Tonnard and Alexis Verpaele.
Lifting plastic surgery to a higher level TEXT: MICHIEL STOL | PHOTOS: COUPURE PLASTIC SURGERY
For over 20 years, doctors Patrick Tonnard and Alexis Verpaele have not only been performing plastic surgery, but have also been working to advance the science behind cosmetic procedures. They are pioneers in their field, and their scientific breakthroughs are followed closely by professionals throughout the world. “But it all starts with our patients. We want to help them the best way we can and provide the best care in the world,” says Tonnard.
“But we felt that a hospital was not the best location for our surgical interventions as a private clinic,” explains Verpaele.
Two-thirds of the cosmetic procedures doctors Tonnard and Verpaele perform concern the face; the rest of the treatments involve breasts, liposuction and injectables. These can be performed in two locations, in Ghent and Sint-MartensLatem. In 1997, the physicians opened the Coupure Center for Plastic Surgery in Ghent, which was linked to the hospital.
Inspired by patients
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“We wanted a place with the highest medical standards, as well as a location that makes patients feel comfortable.” In 2008 they opened a surgical centre in Sint-Martens-Latem, the Esthetisch Medisch Centrum 2, or E:MC2, just outside Ghent. “To us, E:MC2 stands for the unity of body and mind, with a nod to the relativity of the outer beauty.”
At Coupure, patients can come for the intake, consultations and treatments with injectables. At E:MC2, Tonnard and Verpaele perform surgical treatments. E:MC2 has two fully equipped operating rooms as well as four luxurious suites, where patients can recuperate from their surgery. “It is quite unique that a private
clinic has such operating rooms. But our patients deserve to be treated the best way possible, both during a procedure as well as afterwards,” continues Verpaele. “Our staffs keeps in touch with patients to make sure they recuperate well. Patients appreciate that. Not a week goes by without us receiving a ‘thank you’ note from our patients. That is why we do what we do.” Besides treating patients in their own clinic, they also help people in underdeveloped countries through the NGO See and Smile, which they co-founded in 2006. Each year, they undertake reconstructive plastic surgery missions to countries such as Myanmar to help people with cleft lip and cleft palates.
Driven by science Not only their goal to offer the best care is a huge driver for Tonnard and