Open heart paediatric surgeries at the Caribbean Heart Institute (CHI) are set to commence early next month once plans apace are seamless, according to CHI’s Chief Executive Officer and Cardiac Surgeon, Dr Gary Stephens.During an interview with this newspaper yesterday,NFL Jerseys China, Dr. Stephens, revealed that a full team from the Long Island Jewish Hospital of the United States is expected to travel here to facilitate about eight operations next month. It was initially anticipated that the operations would have been conducted in January but according to Dr. Stephens, unforeseen circumstances prevented that ambitious timeframe.During the latter part of last year, about 20 children were screened by a Paediatric Cardiologist from the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Dr. Stephens even at that time had speculated that by the time screening was completed, the list of candidates suitable for surgery would have amounted to about 50.“We are trying to do some of these cardiac surgeries in January…That is the plan right now but sometimes even the best plans don’t work out,” Dr Stephens had opined.Cardiac Surgeon, Dr Gary StephensAnd indeed things did not work out for January, Dr Stephens observed yesterday, even as he pondered on the fact that, “Nothing happens until it happens. The plans are afoot. We have worked a long time with these plans so we are looking at around April 7th or 8th or thereabout.”However, he noted that he will be taking all necessary precautions since it will mean that once the operations get underway it will be the first time paediatric open-heart surgeries will be undertaken in Guyana.Added to this,Wholesale Jerseys From China, he said that plans are being streamlined to utilise the local facility as one that could facilitate operations for children throughout the Caribbean. Similar facilities he said will be introduced to Trinidad and Barbados and are likely to come into being in the near future.This move, according to Dr Stephens is being engaged by a doctor from Montreal, Canada, who is expected to make her first trip here to scrutinise the local facility.“The way they are hoping to operate is to bring down kids from Barbados and Trinidad here when we are having operations so that all operations could be done centrally. It will take some time but I am sure we will eventually get it done,” said an optimistic Dr Stephens.And in order to accommodate the added operations, Dr Stephens revealed that the CHI will soon be afforded additional space within the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation compound.But although the paediatric operations represent a whole new endeavour for CHI, Dr Stephens is optimistic that surgeries for adults will still be undertaken before or after the children’s operations in April. However, the amount of adult operations undertaken will be dependent on the available accommodation.The Paediatric Programme, when it kicks off,Wholesale Jerseys From China, will add to the list of inaugural features that have been introduced by CHI. And according to Dr Stephens,Cheap Authentic Jerseys, like the adult open-heart programme,Cheap Jerseys China, the children’s programme will in perhaps a few years, develop to a point in which CHI operates independently.Some of the procedures may see the children being closed up through the groin while others may have to undergo traditional surgeries, Dr Stephens had noted. He had however expressed some concern about CHI’s ability to garner sufficient clients for the Paediatric programme. As a result, he had highlighted the need for a Congenital Heart Disease Registry since the venture has the potential of significantly reducing the number of cases that are sent abroad.He related further that as an institution, CHI is willing to host the registry as a public service. Once a registry is in place, Dr Stephens noted that all doctors, institutions or groups that come to Guyana and diagnose patients with congenital heart disease will be obligated to call and register such patients.“This ensures that there is a database to follow these patients in order to know whether they had surgery and also what type of surgery. I think that many kids lose out because we don’t have a registry. With a registry we could have easily find 12 kids who meet the profile for open heart surgery…,” Dr. Stephens noted.However,Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping, this proposition has not been accepted well by some stakeholders who seem to have a more keen interest in having operations done overseas.