VIJAYAWADA: Denizens eagerly waited for the commencement of open heart surgeries at the Government General Hospital (GGH) in Vijayawada as the authorities announced to start them in the second week of February. Unfortunately, the programme was postponed. It is likely to take two or three months to commence the programme.
The State government has taken steps to strengthen the GGH to perform heart surgeries and readied two advanced operation theatres to perform cardiac surgeries. As of now, the GGH has three cardiothoracic surgeons, one of them is an associate professor and two assistant professors.
Dr Sowbhagya Lakshmi, Superintendent of GGH, said, “We are having state-of-art equipment in the hospital to perform open heart surgeries such as two cath labs with machinery worth Rs 5 crore each. But the labs cannot be operationalised due to the lack of some medical instruments. Hence, we have procured the instruments from our Hospital Development Fund (HDF).”
Explaining the facilities in the GGH, Dr Mothilal, Head of the Department, said, “We have eight operation theatres in the GGH. Of them, two laminar theatres have been allocated for open heart surgeries. We are having two operation tables costing Rs 10 lakh each, two heart-lung missions worth Rs 85 lakh each, two intra-aortic balloon pumps costing Rs 15 lakh each, two work stations worth Rs 35 lakh each and other costly equipment, which have been kept ready to perform heart surgeries.”
Principal Secretary (Health, Medical and Family Welfare) MT Krishna Babu said, “The GGH authorities have asked for some more equipment and the procurement is underway. Open heart surgeries will be started at the GGH at the earliest. The doctors are very much interested in starting cardiovascular thoracic surgeries at the GGH. In another two months, we may be able to start conduct of cardiac surgeries at the GGH in a full-fledged manner.”