Georgetown : A team, consisting four members from the University of Calgary and Baby Heart Foundation, has completed a visit to Guyana, to discuss plans for the establishment of Paediatric Surgical Care (PSC) at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
The team leaders, Dr. Debra Isaac, Senior Heart Transplant Surgeon, Calgary University and Professor Kishan Narine, General Surgeon, Calgary University visited from January 19 to 22.
The purpose of the visit was to allow Dr. Rodrigo Soto, Paediatric Heart Transplant Surgeon, and Roy Glenn Morris, Biomedical Engineer, both of Baby Heart Foundation, to have a look at the local facilities, allowing them to scope and evaluate the current capacity of the GPHC.
Their ultimate goal is to create the capacity for PSC for children with congenital heart disease. Training for local staff to manage the facility after its establishment will also be addressed.
Further, they will be providing some of the necessary equipment that is vital for the establishment of the facility.
During their visit, they were given the opportunity to tour the GPHC and review patients, who were currently awaiting surgery. There are plans for the team to visit again shortly.
Baby Heart Foundation has been working in developing countries for over 20 years, providing assistance to them, to create the capacity to have Paediatric Cardiology surgeries conducted locally.
At present, children in need of heart surgeries are sent to the Dominican Republic, where they are operated upon by the Baby Heart Foundation. This process is funded by the Government of Guyana.
In 2014, more than 14 children benefited from this process, and all underwent successful surgeries by the foundation. With the establishment of this facility locally, many more such children will benefit, as the cost to government will be reduced.
Baby Heart intends to begin these surgeries as early as June, 2015.
