Travelling out of Hawke’s Bay for heart procedures could become a thing of the past with the opening of a private cardiovascular clinic led by doctors Bob Gerber and Colin Hutchison.
The clinic could save a trip to Wellington or Hamilton for more than 200 local heart patients for pacemaker and stent procedures.
G&H’s cath lab is based on the Kaweka Hospital campus on Canning Road and is equipped with the region’s first high performance x-ray technology to help quickly diagnose and treat heart problems.
Angiograms (taking images of the arteries), an interventional cardiology programme (including ballooning and stenting of arteries), implantable devices (e.g. pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators – ICDs) and other cardiology procedures will all be provided at the facility.
Already six pacemaker procedures have been successfully undertaken in the main Kaweka Hospital surgical facilities. These will now be undertaken at the new facility.
Hutchison said the modern clinic shared with TRG Imaging was a temporary solution to meet current needs while awaiting the completion of second stage of Kaweka Hospital, which is set to open in mid-2025.
Gerber said it was well known the sooner heart procedures were done, the better it was for people getting back on their feet and enjoying life.
“The benefits of having the procedure closer to home and family will also have a positive impact on recovery.”
Hutchison saw the new facility as an opportunity to support the care of all cardiac patients in the region, reducing the need for patients to wait for transfer to regional centres.
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Wonderful news. Well done gentlemen