Coast Provincial General Hospital (CPGH) made history for being the first public hospital in the country to initiate an open-heart surgery or cardiothoracic surgery programme outside Nairobi.
Ordinarily, open heart surgeries for public hospitals are conducted at the Kenyatta National Hospital which has been the sole traditional centre for the service in the country.
The programme which was officially rolled out by Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho, began with a team of cardiologists at the CPGH, in partnership with their colleagues from KNH, conducting the first cardiac surgery on a 40-year-old patient.
CPGH surgery department head Peter Sero, alongside KNH’s head of Cardiac Unit James Munene, led a team of surgeons in conducting the historic operation that began shortly after 10am yesterday.
Addressing the press minutes before the eight-hour operation, CPGH chief administrator Khandwalla Salil said the surgery was a great achievement and signified a major milestone in shaping the region’s healthcare services. “It has been a long journey for the past five years.
This is the first time we are going to have an open-heart surgery outside KNH. It’s a great achievement for us. I believe and we hope that we shall continue this programme not on a one-off but having cardiothoracic surgeries happening at CPGH on a regular basis,” said Khandwalla, adding that they had to put a lot of resources as well as engaging partners like KNH to ensure they make it happen.
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