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Sixty-two joint replacement surgeries completed at GPHC
Kaieteur News – Last weekend, the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) in collaboration with the Women’s Orthopedic Global Outreach (WOGO) medical mission completed a record-breaking, 62 joint replacement surgeries on 50 patients as part of ‘Operation Walk’ initiative.
This was noted at a press conference hosted by the hospital and WOGO on Wednesday. According to the GPHC, it would have taken them an entire year to undertake the number of surgeries which were performed last weekend and it attributed this to the lack of manpower and facilities.
One of the lead surgeons on the medical team, Dr. Linda Suleiman, a total joint surgeon practicing joint hip and knee replacement at North Western University, said that “we have been trying to come here since 2019 that was when we first did our pre-trip and unfortunately COVID delayed out ability to come back to Guyana.”
She informed the gathering that what made the WOGO arm of Operation Walk unique, is that they are not based in one city; they are a team of 10 total joint replacement surgeons from across the United States. “The reason we are across the country is because there are less that 1% of women who do total joint replacements in the United States. And so our mission is to really empower, engage and educate not only the place that we work but making sure that we’re teaching our residents.”
Members of the Women’s Orthopedic Global Outreach mission along the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation staff during a medical procedure.
Dr. Suleiman noted that over the last three days, the team completed the most cases they have ever done in a single trip. “This is the most cases we’ve ever done, we did 62 knee replacements for 50 patients in three and a half days.”
Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GPHC Dr. Navindranauth Rambarran, in his opening remarks said , “ At the end of every successful venture like this it is always important that we do a gathering, a debrief informing the public at large what is being done and why it’s important that we keep doing these ventures.”
He added, “The Operation Walk which affords a large amount of patients, joint replacement surgeries is something that we have been doing along with similar projects and it is really aimed at bringing that level of world class care to our patients that may not be available around the year but in some cases in limited capacity throughout the year. But when we have these big projects we are able to do many of these surgeries.”
He went on to say that administratively, the medical institution is geared towards taking on the project such as the Gift of Life Pediatric cardiac surgery initiative that will be happening in December. This coming weekend, the GPHC will be conducting a number of complex hernia surgeries to the abdomen on patients.
Members of the medical team pose with a double-knee replacement recipient.
Rambarran noted that the collaboration with WOGO has been long overdue as the team was previously here for a “pre-visit” but COVID had altered the plans. However, since the pandemic is over, and after several months of planning, they returned to complete initial plans.
As of 14:00hrs on Wednesday, only five of the 50 patients remained in the GPHC ward, with the majority being discharged to continue their recovery at home. They are supported by ongoing physiotherapy services provided by hospital.
Last month the GPHC revealed that it has removed the $1.2M-$1.4M fees it charges for joint revision operations. The hospital made a decision last month also, after some consultations and considerations, to waive the $200,000 fee for hip and knee replacement surgeries.
“For the hip and knee replacement there was a fee, while it was minimal for the actual total cost for the surgery in terms of all the supplies, and the theater time and surgeon time, and everything else that it associated with the surgery, it was $200, 000,” Chief Executive Officer of the organization, Robbie Rambarran said last month.
He noted that the $200,000 was really a burden to many persons in dire need of the surgery, especially the elderly.
- COVID, Dr. Linda Suleima, Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Guyana, Women’s Orthopedic Global Outreach (WOGO)
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