![This patient is flanked by her doctors and mother, after successfully undergoing open heart surgery at the Balwant Singh Hospital/ [iNews' Photo]](https://i0.wp.com/www.inewsguyana.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/DSC05001.jpg)
Thus far, the hospital has conducted operations on two children with heart ailments and both surgeries were successful.
The surgeries were performed by Dr. Ratan Kumar Das from the Medica Super – specialty Hospital in Kolkata India.
Dr. Das has ten years experience and performs about 350 open heart surgeries per year with 40% of those being on children.
Administrator of the Hospital Dr. Madhu Singh says Balwant Singh is the first hospital to initiate pediatric cardiac surgery.
And with this, Guyanese children she says will no longer have to travel overseas for such procedures and care.
The cost for the surgery she added is less than what the Caribbean Heart Institute Charges. Dr. Singh says the hospital’s CATH lab which has been operational for more than eight months now has performed about 150 coronary angiograms and more than 30 angioplasties. [Akash Ramlackhan]
