This new article from the Thoracic Surgery Foundation (TSF) describes the dedication of CNH providers and their partners at the Ugandan Heart Institute (UHI) to their cross-continental collaboration to save the lives of children with heart disease. Dr. Pranava Sinha, a cardiovascular surgeon at CNH, received the 2019 TSF Award for her work in Uganda alongside CNH team members.
Amidst the scary and turbulent circumstances of the coronavirus, CNH providers Drs. Craig Sable and Pranava Sinha and CICU nurses Leah Arold, Erin Shand, and Nancy Francis faced a dilemma. They had travelled to UHI on a surgical mission trip to provide lifesaving interventions for several Ugandan schoolchildren with end stage heart disease. However, as the coronavirus outbreak began to worsen in the US, Uganda closed its borders to Americans, preventing half of the surgical team, including Dr. Sinha, from joining their peers in Uganda. CNH providers and their UHI partners had to decide what to do next: go forward with the life-saving surgeries or postpone operations until the whole US team could be there. However, the international group of providers saw an opportunity in the unforeseen circumstances for UHI to demonstrate its full capacity to handle critical cardiac patients successfully. Over the week of March 16, five Ugandan children were saved by the expertise of the Ugandan team, marking a major milestone in the 20-year collaboration between CNH and UHI. Proving the advancement in cardiac surgical services at UHI which has been years in the making, this expansion will be able to help thousands of Ugandan children with end stage heart disease.
Images: TSF.
Read the Article Here