Doctors provide free open heart surgery

Recently appointed Health Minister John Rahael yesterday revealed that by  mid 2004, at least 40 persons in need of open heart surgery would have their  operations performed at no cost to them, but thanks to the kind generosity  of a team of seven doctors, including a foreign cardiac surgeon.

Speaking to reporters Thursday evening at a press conference at the Eric Williams  Medical Sciences Complex, Rahael said eight persons had been operated on  thus far, while another two persons were scheduled to undergo surgery yesterday. “This is of no cost to the patient,” he said, adding that “this cost is  being met by the Ministry of Health, and the Caribbean Heart Care Medcorp  Ltd.” The Ministry of Health and the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA)  are seeking to make open-heart surgery more accessible to all levels of  society through the indigent cardiac surgery intervention programme.

This project is a joint venture between the Ministry of Health and Caribbean  Heart Care Medcorp Limited. Stating that this project was being done on a charitable basis on the part  of the team of doctors of Medcorp, Rahael said the cost was being subsidised  by Government to the tune of US $10,500 per patient. “We will be doing this on a bi-monthly basis,” he pledged, so that every two  months, ten indigent patients will be operated on. Admitting that the list of persons requiring open heart surgery was high,  Rahael said “we are going to look at the facilities here, and what can be  done to increase that number.” “What we really require with respect to the medical sector is the whole  question of ensuring that facilities are provided, and that all necessary  support systems are in place. We have the doctors and the nurses, who need  to be trained in specialty areas.”

Claiming that they were prepared to “provide that kind of training,” Rahael  concluded that Government was committed to increasing the number of persons  who can have open heart surgery performed for free. A programme also performing open-heart surgery for children at the hospital  has yielded excellent results, Rahael boasted, as approximately 222 children  have been operated on within a two to three year period. “This programme is under control,” he said. Managing director of Caribbean Heart Care Medcorp Ltd, Dr Kamal Rampersad,  said that this type of service “has been sadly lacking.” Former Medical Chief of Staff  Dr Rasheed Rahaman, who was instrumental in getting this  project started, congratulated the staff at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, who he said worked very hard. “We are coming closer to the day when Government will fulfil its  responsibility to these people,” Rahaman stated. “We have gone too far to turn back now on this programme,” he concluded.

A criteria has not yet been developed to select persons for the programme,  but the team of doctors said the two most pressing issues which need to be  satisfied is that the patient has to have surgical eligibility (determined by a  cardiologist), and charitable eligibility (determined by a social worker). Following these findings, the results are forwarded to the ministry,  following which the doctors will then be consulted. In an unrelated matter regarding the possible outbreak of the Enterobacter  outbreak at the hospital once again, which may have been responsible for the  recent death of a baby, Rahael denied this, saying “to my understanding,  there is no problem.” A press release issued claimed that “neonates such as baby Khan who are born  prematurely present severe challenges including severe prematurity of organs  and systems, foetal abnormality of major organs and severe jaundice and  attendant complications.” It also reiterated “that quality care was administered to baby Khan and  all other babies at the Neo Natal Ward.”