José Crespo emphasises that ‘having González Rivas as the town crier is an honour for Lalín. He represents medical excellence in the world, with a career marked by a vocation for service and an example of how science can transform lives and how a professional can take the name of Galicia to the highest standards of global medicine’.
His career, which includes operations and teaching in more than 100 countries, has established him as a world leader in minimally invasive thoracic surgery, with a legacy that ranges from clinical and educational improvements to health equity through his Foundation, which promotes surgical missions in countries with limited resources.
The mayor of Lalín, José Crespo Iglesias, announced that internationally renowned Galician thoracic surgeon Diego González Rivas will be responsible for delivering the opening speech at the 58th edition of the Feira do Cocido, to be held on 8 February 2026.
‘Having Diego González Rivas as the opening speaker is an honour for Lalín. He represents Galician medical excellence in the world, with a career marked by innovation, dedication to service and social commitment. He is an example of how science can transform lives and how a professional can take the name of Galicia to the highest standards of global medicine,’ said the mayor.
Born in A Coruña in 1974, González Rivas is a pioneer of the Uniportal VATS technique, a minimally invasive approach that allows complex lung surgery to be performed through a single incision, reducing pain, recovery time and risks for the patient. He trained in medicine at the University of Santiago de Compostela and specialised in thoracic surgery and lung transplantation at the CHUAC. In 2010, he published and disseminated the principles of the uniportal technique, with which he performed the first procedures described using this innovative method.
Beyond surgical practice, he promoted the UCTMI (Minimally Invasive Thoracic Surgery Unit), a healthcare and teaching platform from which he extended the technique to leading hospitals. His work combines healthcare activity in centres in A Coruña such as Quirónsalud A Coruña, San Rafael, Modelo and CHUAC, with the management of training programmes and interventions in international institutions, including the Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, one of the world's largest centres for thoracic surgery.
His international reputation has led to invitations to perform live surgery and teach the technique at conferences and courses in numerous countries, reinforcing the standardisation of single-port VATS and its robotic evolution (URATS/Uniportal RATS). In the field of dissemination, he is the protagonist of the TVG docuseries, Curando el mundo (Healing the World), which focuses on his medical missions in different countries, and has participated in other programmes on CSAG (Corporación de Servicios Audiovisuales de Galicia), bringing minimally invasive thoracic surgery to the general public.
In the academic field, he has published numerous chapters and technical articles that systematise the single-port approach, describing the indications, instruments and surgical steps, as well as the progression of this method with respect to traditional techniques. These materials served as a guide for the global adoption of the technique and are updated with innovations in articulated instruments, vascular sealing and endoscopic vision.
Humanitarian commitment
At the same time, he developed a strong humanitarian commitment. Through the Diego González Rivas Foundation, he promotes surgical missions and a mobile operating theatre to bring advanced thoracic surgery to countries with limited resources. In 2025, the Foundation successfully completed an intervention in Kono (Sierra Leone): six complex thoracic surgeries performed in the mobile unit, in an operation involving teams from Galicia and other countries, and Galician technical support to keep the operating theatre truck operational after a difficult journey through West Africa.
His work received institutional recognition; in February 2025, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Miguel Hernández University in Elche, a distinction that highlighted his surgical career, innovation in the single-port approach and the social dimension of the mobile operating theatre project. In recent years, he has also shared his experiences in conflict zones and health cooperation, emphasising the idea of equal opportunities: that a patient in Africa should have the same therapeutic options as in Europe.
Diego González Rivas currently combines surgery, teaching and innovation with healthcare work in A Coruña and international programmes in Asia, America and Africa. His professional career, which includes operations and teaching in more than 100 countries (he has operated in prestigious hospitals in Europe, America, Asia and Africa), has established him as a world leader in minimally invasive thoracic surgery, with a track record that ranges from clinical and training improvements to health equity through his Foundation.
