Surgery milestone 'a privilege' for cardiac team

Lake Macquarie Private Hospital is celebrating nearly three decades of providing "a great patient experience" following the 8,888thheart surgery by its cardiac team.

Cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Allen James, who was working at the hospital for the first case 28 years ago, said he was proud to help so many people from New South Wales' Hunter Region with potentially life-saving procedures.

"It's a privilege to be able to help people in this way," he said.

"I love to see people get through really complex operations and have improved quality of life and length of life."

Dr James paid tribute to his colleagues Dr Rosauro Mejia and Dr Taranpreet Singh, along with the team's nurses,anaesthetistsand support staff.

"I love being part of a strong, supportive team," he said.

"Some of the people I work with were juniors when I startedat the hospital inthe 1990sand are still working with us after all those years.

"The continuity among theatre, ICU, and the ward is excellent, which gives a great patient experience."

Dr James said the cardiac team was now dealing with a "much greater complexity" of cases at the Gateshead-based hospital, which is part of the Ramsay Health Care group.

"When the unit firststartedwe did primarily bypass surgery," he said.

"Now we do a lot of valve surgeries including valve repairs and aortic surgery, complex re-do heart surgery and, in addition to our heart surgery, a large amount of thoracic surgery."

Read more: 'Full gamut' of care for Hunter Region

Read more: $2.4 million boost for cardiac care in West Sydney

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