POTSDAM -- Dr. Maurice Bettez, a specialist in head and neck surgery, or otolaryngology, has joined the medical staff of St. Lawrence Health System and will practice in Potsdam with privileges at Canton-Potsdam Hospital.

Bettez will begin seeing patients Monday, July 18.

Otolaryngology, also known as ear, nose, and throat medicine (ENT), is the diagnosis and treatment of disorders and injuries such as overactive thyroid, tonsillitis, rhinitis, earache, nose fracture, chronic nosebleeds, and problems with speech, hearing, and the sense of smell or taste. An ENT specialist may use non-surgical methods of treatment, and may also use surgery to correct malformations or injuries, or to remove polyps and cancerous or non-cancerous tumors.

“With the addition of Dr. Bettez, we now have two ENT specialists available to the communities we serve,” said Michael Maresca, chief of the medical staff. “Dr. Michael G. Chater has established a thriving practice here,” said Maresca, referring to the head and neck surgery specialist who joined SLHS in 2014. “He and Dr. Bettez both perform high-level head and neck surgery, in addition to taking care of routine ENT needs, so it’s really going to benefit our patients to have them here,” said Dr. Maresca.

Bettez received his medical degree from the Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, where he also performed a surgical internship. He completed his residency and a fellowship in otorhinolaryngology, also at the Université de Montréal. He completed a fellowship in head and neck surgery and facial and plastic reconstructive surgery at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. He is certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, Chicago, and in otorhinolaryngology by the Corporation des Spécialistes de la Province de Québec.

Bettez is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals and given invited presentations on numerous otolaryngology-related research topics, including facial paralysis, evaluation of cancers of the sinus and pharynx, and treatment of nosebleeds. He is the holder of a patent for an adjustable laryngeal implant for vocal cord paralysis. He has also acted as lecturer and preceptor in medical education. He previously served as Chief of Surgery at Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone.

Bettez’s office is in Potsdam at 190 Outer Main St.

For information or an appointment, interested individuals may call (315) 261-5900 or visit www.cphospital.org.

For more information about St. Lawrence Health System, interested individuals may visit www.stlawrencehealthsystem.org.