US surgeons in Guyana to perform over 50 hernia operations

Numerous hernia operations will be carried out by an expert Northwell Health surgical team during their six-day mission in Guyana at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

The GPHC reached out to Northwell months ago to help with a backlog of hernia cases the hospital was having difficulty with. The Northwell team, which consists of three surgeons, brings cutting-edge surgical procedures that they will be transferring to Guyanese doctors so that patients here can receive the highest quality care.

It is expected that the need for patients to travel overseas for complex procedures and for missions like these will become less and less with the exchange of knowledge from Northwell.

Head of Surgery at GPHC, Dr. Shailindra Rajkumar told a news conference on Friday that apart from the benefits to local patients and health workers, this partnership will further increase the confidence in the public health sector.

Some 56 patients are booked to undergo surgeries and the operations will not be extensive, Dr. Rajkumar explained.

“All of these patients are going to have a very short hospital stay and most of them will be going home the day of surgery,” Dr. Rajkumar said.

The three visiting surgeons will be supported by about 18 local doctors.

While there is no shortage of expertise here to perform these operations, Dr. Rajkumar noted that resources have been a challenge.

“They [Northwell] provide the expertise and some of the materials that we were not able to source locally and we provide the patients,” Dr. Rajkumar said.

The first two days of the mission served as a clinic to screen patients and starting on July 1, the surgical operations will begin with about 20-25 patients per day.

A debriefing session on the operations will also conclude the mission followed by academic sessions with doctors at GPHC.

Vice President of Global Health Center at Northwell, Dr. Eric Cioe-Pena said they are committed to ensuring Guyanese health professionals are trained on the use of new medical technologies and equipment.

“The GPHC team here has a great vision for where healthcare in Guyana is going and the Northwell team is here as a friend and colleague to help realize that vision, to cut some corners with procurement, making sure that we can get supplies that are needed in the country.”

Meanwhile, the Vice President of the Department of Surgery at Northwell, Nathan Christopherson Vice President of the Department of Surgery at Northwell, Nathan Christopherson said they will be sharing different techniques and teaching them to Guyanese doctors.

“We have experts in Hernia repair and we have experts that have done missions like this here across the globe,” Christopherson said.

Northwell is also collaborating and training local health workers on advanced trauma life support, point of care ultrasound training and (Electrochemical Therapy) ECT training.