Bendigo Geriatrics
Dr. Elisabeth Hatzistavrou MBBS, FRACP
Specialist geriatrician
Dr. Elisabeth
Dr Elisabeth Hatzistavrou is a specialist geriatrician who calls Bendigo home.
She has worked across a diverse range of services from community-based services to acute hospital care, and in large metropolitan hospitals as well as regional centres across Victoria and Tasmania. Dr Elisabeth currently works as a geriatrician part-time at Bendigo Health.
She has a special interest in cognition (memory and thinking) and dementia. Her other professional interests include movement disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease, and other disorders affecting cognition, such as delirium.
Dr Elisabeth hopes to improve people’s understanding of dementia and ageing by promoting health literacy. She aims to provide compassionate care that empowers people to live well and make informed choices about their health and their future.
Dr Elisabeth has a history of consistent leadership, holding various formal and informal positions throughout her training and professional practice. She has represented her colleagues at statewide and national levels through the Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine and completed formal training through Monash University’s Women in Leadership program.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a geriatrician and am I too young to see one?
A geriatrician is a physician who has specialised in the care of people who are typically aged 65 and above. For example, a paediatrician specialises in the care of children, and general physicians specialise in adult medicine. Geriatricians are trained in providing holistic medical care for the unique life stage of seniors.
What should I expect from my appointments?
Your first appointment typically involves an hour-long comprehensive geriatric assessment. This is a complete health check which involves getting to know you, a physical examination, review of previous tests, identification of areas for improvement, and preparation of a management plan to address these. A letter detailing the assessment and plan will be sent to your General Practitioner (GP) and a plain-language summary will be provided to you.
To give you and the rest of your health team time to action this plan, review appointments are typically scheduled three to six months later. This second appointment is half an hour and will review the previous plan and identify any further actions to be taken.
If you are concerned about cognition (memory and thinking) your initial appointment may require up to one and a half hours to allow time for detailed testing.
Fees will be advised prior to your appointment. Please discuss any questions with our friendly administrative team.
What should I bring to my appointment?
Please bring your completed pre—appointment questionnaire including a list of current medications, your medicare or DVA card, and as many loved-ones as you would like to support you.
Have a concern you feel you can’t share in front of your loved-one?
Please notify reception prior to the appointment and you will be given an opportunity to confidentially discuss your concerns.
How is my health information managed?
Dr Elisabeth uses ‘Heidi’, an AI note-taker, to write her clinical notes. Using Heidi enables her to spend less time typing and more time focussing on you. She also uses this to create a summary of your consultation to provide to you and to provide timely letters back to your referring clinician (e.g. your GP). It’s safe and secure and you can see what Heidi writes. More information is available here: https://www.bendigogeriatrics.com.au/s/Aus-patient-explainer-digital.pdf
If you’d prefer not to have Heidi transcribe your session, please advise Dr Elisabeth at the start of the session.