Coast hospital performs first open heart surgery

Mombasa, Kenya - Coast Provincial General Hospital (CPGH) yesterday became the first public hospital, outside Nairobi, to conduct an open heart surgery.

A team of doctors from CPGH bolstered by others from Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) operated on 22-year-old Khadija Kavuli yesterday morning.

The doctors said five more patients with similar complications will be operated on at the facility in the next one week easing pressure on KNH and reducing the cost for patients.

Speaking to the Press minutes before doctors moved into the operating room at CPHG, Governor Hassan Joho said the hospital is now capable of offering services just like KNH.

He said his government has set aside Sh2 billion, out of the Sh10 billion allocated to it by Treasury, towards improving health services in the county.

"This is a historic event and we are prepared and good to go. We have the equipment and the human resource needed to sustain the new programme," the governor said.

Mr Joho also said the county is ready to sponsor doctors from the facility, who express interest in becoming heart specialists, in order to beef up the manpower at CPGH.

LONG WAIT

The hospital's cardiac surgeon and Head of Surgery department Dr Peter Sore said the surgery was a result of meticulous planning between experts from the two hospitals.

"This is an exciting moment not only for CPGH but also for our heart patients who have been suffering as they have to bear with a long wait," he said.

Dr Sore, the only cardiothoracic surgeon in the region's biggest referral facility, said the programme has sparked interest among doctors.

He said cardiology is a highly specialised field with different cadres that requires rigorous training.

"It takes at least five years for a doctor, who is already a surgeon, to train as a cardiothoracic surgeon.

Going forward, we want to identify and take interested personnel for training," he said.