The Tritel Legacy

Dr Gerald Laboda, A Southwest Florida local oral surgeon, had a vision for bringing invasive cardiology to Southwest Florida.

In 1973 Dr Laboda brought Paul’s father, Dr. Harvey Tritel to town. It was at that time that Harvey opened the cardiac cath lab for invasive cardiac diagnostic studies. In 1975, Harvey brought Dr Bob Pascotto to Fort Myers to set up the one of the most successful open-heart surgery programs in the country. In June of 1986, Harvey recruited Dr Mario Lopez as the first fellowship trained interventional cardiologist in the area. They performed the first balloon angioplasty in August 1986. Harvey worked in private practice until his retirement in 1999 and was one of the founders of Florida Heart Associates. Less than 5 years after Harvey’s retirement, Dr Paul Tritel, came to town and joined Internal Medicine Associates. Paul worked at IMA from 2004-2016 where he served several years on the Executive Committee before his departure. Since founding TCM in Jan 2017, there has been a Dr Tritel in Southwest Florida for approximately 45 out of the last 50 years.