A referral mission hospital in the South Rift is the first rural-based medical facility to conduct open-heart surgery.
The surgery (also known as off-pump heart surgery) repairs valves without stopping the heart.
Doctors at Tenwek Mission Hospital in Bomet District successfully operated 12 patients who had various degrees of complications.
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Surgeons, nurses and other health workers teamed up with their counterparts from various hospitals in the United States.
The foreign doctors came from Brown University’s Miriam Hospital in Rhode Island and Vanderbilt University’s Vanderbilt Children Hospital in Tennessee.
Dr Russ White, the chief surgeon and medical superintendent at Tenwek Mission Hospital, told The Standard on Saturday the operations were successful.
"Various hospitals, companies and non governmental organisations from the US, including the Samaritan Purse, donated facilities," White said.
Some patients suffered from Down’s Syndrome and Rheumatic heart diseases.
Surgeons operate on a heart patient at Tenwek Mission Hospital. |
"We shall conduct the operations once every year but we plan to increase it to twice or thrice a year," said Lang’at.
He said the average cost of the surgeries was Sh20,000. The patients met part of the cost, with donors and the hospital taking care of the rest.
Grateful
"Though it is hard to quantify the cost at the moment, we believe it will cost Sh50,000 per case in future. We are grateful for all the assistance from donors and friends who have made the project a success," Lang’at said.
White said the idea to conduct heart surgery in the hospital was mooted 16 years ago, following a discussion with the administration and doctors.
"After receiving many cases, mostly of young children born with heart complications, we decided to start a unit to deal with the more complicated cases," said White.
Poor treatment
He said most of the patients previously succumbed to the illness due to lack of proper treatment and the prohibitive costs.
"Most of the patients complained of perennial headaches and fever, but upon thorough medical check up, they were diagnosed with heart complications," explained White.
Patients who benefited from the project were drawn from various parts of the country, including Nyanza, Central and Rift Valley provinces.
White and Lang’at said the operations would be conducted solely by local doctors.
A nurse attends to George Osoti as he recovers from a heart surgery at Tenwek Mission Hospital. Photo: Vitalis Kimutai/Standard |
"We were not able to accommodate all the patients due to the enormity of the operation.
"In some cases, the patients had advanced cases, which were risky to handle," said White.
Most of the patients who benefited had previously been referred to Mater Hospital and Kenyatta National Hospital for specialised treatment.
Others were referred to India.
Mr Richard Lang’at, whose son was operated, fought tears as he narrated the tribulations he had undergone while seeking medical help for him.
"My son, Kiprono, was diagnosed with the heart condition at Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital in Nakuru when he was barely two," said Lang’at.
Specialised treatment
He added: "We were referred to Mater hospital where we were advised by doctors to take the boy to India for specialised treatment."
But he was unable to raise the Sh600,000 required for the operation.
When a neighbour informed him about the surgery at Tenwek, he immediately took his son for screening.
"I will feel forever indebted to doctors at this hospital for saving my son. It is a big relief as a burden has been lifted off my back," said Lang’at.
Christine Chelang’at, who was a Down’s syndrome patient, is grateful the operation was successful.
The hospital, situated some 224km west of Nairobi, is also a centre for esophageal cancer research.
It has plans to offer hospice care for the terminally ill.
Tenwek Mission Hospital was founded in 1935 as a health centre by World Gospel Mission.
The first registered nurse at the institution was Gertrude Shryock, while the first full time doctor was Dr Ernie Steury.
Steury’s arrival led to upgrading of the facility from health centre to a cottage hospital and later a fully-fledged hospital. It later became a referral hospital.
The African Gospel Church-sponsored hospital has a 300-bed capacity and operates 25 satellite health facilities in the South Rift region.
It operates a nursing school, established in 1987, and offers Kenya Registered Community Health Nurse diploma programmes.
The school also offers masters degree programme in family health in collaboration with Moi University.
