Coast General Hospital (CGH) is becoming a preferred medical institution for residents of Mombasa and neighbouring counties following its recent success stories, including last month’s historic open heart surgery.
It became the first public hospital outside Nairobi to successfully conduct an open heart surgery.
After years of negative press reports over poor services, lack of drugs and frequent strikes, the hospital is now among the best managed medical facilities in the region.
Dr Peter Osore, the only cardiothoracic specialist at CGH, led doctors from the Kenyatta National Hospital to perform the operations in a historic moment witnessed by Governor Hassan Joho and a host of County Assembly Members.
Bolstered by the success story, doctors and the local leaders are upbeat that CGH is destined to become a centre of excellence and could soon have more patients who need specialised care as it plans to conduct more open heart operations.
For Osore, it was a momentous occasion after his team successfully operated on Victor Ogara, 15, Catherine Thaara, 41, and Khadija, 22.
The three were admitted with mitral valve regurgitation, a condition in which the heart’s mitral valve cannot close tightly to allow the flow of blood backwards into the heart, resulting in weariness and breathlessness.
Osore says, “We replaced the mitral valves in the two of the patients which were completely damaged and repaired the damaged valve in the third patient.”
Five other heart patients will also undergo surgery at the hospital. It is hoped that patients from the region will not have to seek surgery from Nairobi or even overseas.
Osore noted that rheumatic heart disease and congenital heart conditions were common in the region.
Each operation costs about Sh135,000, much lower than the Sh2 million a patient would spend on the same operation overseas. The governor noted that the operation was a milestone.
“One will appreciate the significance of the heart operations introduced in Mombasa if he or she suffers a heart disease. It is moment of pride for us and we thank our doctors for this,” Joho said.
The county government has allocated Sh2 billion to the health sector in the 2016/16 budget. In recent times, CGH has also acquired modern equipment and established a Sh46 million dialysis centre.
To decongest CGH, the county government intends to build eight new hospitals in all sub counties away from Mombasa, each at a cost of Sh55 million.
It is expected that Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi, Taita Taveta, Lamu and Tana River counties will jointly fund the running of CGH through an organisation known as Jumuiya ya Kaunti za Pwani, which brings together projects under various coast counties under one roof.
Heart patients are often referred to KNH. But due to the long queues; the majority of them are put on a long waiting list sometimes running upto 2017. CGH is set to hire more surgeons to serve the growing number of patients with heart complications.
“It takes at least five years for a surgeon to train as a cardiothoracic. Going forward, we want to identify candidates who are keen to undergo training and pay for their training,” said Osore.
Joho has also pledged to support more doctors to be trained as cardiothoracics. The county will also support other doctors who need specialist in other areas.
