As part of activities to mark its second-year anniversary, Duchess International Hospital conducted a week-long cardiac surgery mission delivering subsidized and affordable “open-heart surgery” to nine patients with a variety of life-threatening heart diseases who would not otherwise have been able to afford the full cost of complex heart surgery.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Duchess International Hospital, Dr Adetokunbo Shitta-Bey, said the Duchess has been working on the landmark initiative in collaboration with Friends of Nigeria Save-A-Heart Foundation, United Kingdom.
He explained that the combined team of 22 highly trained and experienced specialist professionals comprising cardiac perfusionists, theatre practitioners, intensive care nurses, cardiac anaesthetists and interventional cardiologists was made up of 11 highly skilled professionals from the Duchess International Hospital and 11 members of the Save-A-Heart Foundation visiting team from the United Kingdom.
Led by Professor of Cardiac Surgery and Coordinator of the Duchess Cardiac Surgery Programme, Dr Bode Falase, and Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Dr OnyiiNzewi, at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast and founder of the Save-A-Heart Foundation, the combined team successfully performed nine open heart surgery procedures, each lasting several hours, over five days.
He reiterated the hospital’s misson to reversing medical tourism and its commitment to institutional collaboration and cooperation to achieve good patient outcomes and global standards of evidence-based practice
Also, the head of the UK medical mission, Dr Onyii Nzewi said that Save-A-Heart Foundation is pleased to collaborate with Duchess International Hospital to provide affordable open-heart surgery to restore hope and bring smiles to numerous individuals and families who have lived with the effects of complex heart disease and cardiovascular conditions for a very long time.
Nzewi commended the management of Duchess Hospital, Ikeja for providing a world-class medical environment for Nigerians. He said the team, with staff of Duchess International Hospital, was able to achieve the landmark objective through a combination of highly skilled expertise and cutting-edge medical infrastructure available specifically for cardiac surgery at the hospital.
Commenting on Save-A-Heart Foundation’s highly successful collaboration with the Duchess International Hospital, Falase said the partnership has helped tremendously to foster collaboration across medical institutions both within and outside Nigeria. He commended the team for their professionalism and congratulated them on achieving a hitch-free cardiac surgery programme with a success rate of 100 percent.
