both in the Intensive Care Unit and the operating room

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By Sharmain CornetteDr Gary StephensSurgical operations at the Caribbean Heart Institute (CHI) will be completely undertaken by local medical professionals by this year-end. At least this is the expectation of Head of the Institute, New York-based doctor Gary Stephens, who disclosed during an interview with this newspaper yesterday that training of local staffers is ongoing.Since Friday, the Guyana-born Dr Stephens and his overseas-based medical team have been performing open-heart surgeries at the CHI, which is located at the Georgetown Public Hospital.According to him, the CHI has decided to impose a new style of surgical intervention, in that heart valves and coronary bypasses are no longer undertaken at the same time.The cardiac surgeon attributed this change in operation to the fact that valve operations are more complex than the coronary artery procedure, thus the management of patients is a bit more intensive. As a result he said, “One month we will do just coronary artery bypass, and another month we will do heart valves.”One surgery was conducted on Friday, two were conducted yesterday, and preparations were being made yesterday for another procedure to be undertaken today.Vidananlall Beharry and his wife Kumari Beharry minutes before his surgeryAmong the patients operated on yesterday was 55-year-old Vidananlall Beharry, who hails from Number 69 Village, Corentyne, Berbice. According to the man who was accompanied by his wife, Kumari Beharry, he was suffering from a chest pain for about three years, but it was only last year that he was diagnosed with a heart condition. The man said that he initially sought medical attention at the Skeldon Hospital, but was eventually brought to the CHI by a relative who had heard about the capabilities of Dr Stephens and his team.But, according to the lead surgeon, the surgical efforts at CHI are limited by the four-bed capacity of the facility. He pointed out, though, that the situation would have been ideal if many more surgeries could be performed when he comes to Guyana.“We are here and we have the time, and it would have been nice if we could do so much more, but doing four is all we can do because of space.”Dr Stephens disclosed that some patients who require open-heart surgery are forced to wait in some instances for almost one year before they are surgically accommodated. Currently there is a waiting list of more than 30 patients.However, with the support of a Chinese Interventional Cardiologist who was brought in by the local Government, Dr Stephens noted that there has be a notable increase in the number of procedures that were conducted over the months.It is however the expectations of the doctor that by year-end local medical professionals, under his leadership, will be able to completely handle all surgical operations done at CHI.“I am optimistic that at the end of the year we will have all aspects of open-heart surgery done by local professionals… We will be able to do everything on our own.“This has always been my hope for local staff to be able to do everything on their own. From a Cardiac Cath Lab perspective, we have everybody that is able to manage in a Cardiac Cath Lab, except the interventional cardiologist who was brought in by the Government.”According to Dr Stephens, he is hopeful that this round of surgeries will be the last time that he will require the assistance of nurses from the United States.He pointed out that at the moment he is comfortable with the way things are being done at the Institute. “We have got to the point, both in the Intensive Care Unit and the operating room, where we may be able to do this on our own without much outside help, unless we have really complex cases, and we need additional expertise; only then we will have to bring in somebody.”In the meantime, CHI has an agreement with the Maimonides Medical Centre, which is ranked number one in Cardiology in New York, to train local professionals.According to the doctor, the medical centre has agreed to allow local nurses to spend time in their surgery unit, and has also promised to help train the local profusionist.“They have also indicated to us that if we need expert help they will send people in. Right now our echocardiograms are read every day by them. That hospital has stepped up significantly to help us because they have the expertise to do so…”Additional support from the medical centre is also being realised through the procurement of medical supplies, Dr Stephens related. “When we buy things in quantity it is less, but when we buy a few it costs a lot, so things like the open-heart surgery packs that we need to source in the US, that hospital buys it for us as part of theirs and sells us back at a reduced price, and that has been helping us with our programme.”According to Dr Stephens, at the moment CHI is operating optimally, even though faced with some challenges.Currently he divulged that the biggest stumbling-block as it relates to making routine surgery available is the need for a trained person to operate the heart/lung machine, adding that training has already been streamlined in this regard.