King Abdullah Medical City (KAMC) in Makkah managed to conduct 414 cardiac catheterizations and open-heart operations in 3 weeks, including 159 operations performed on pilgrims with various nationalities, and 297 operations on citizens from different regions.
KAMC Executive Director, Dr. Sohail Ba-Jamal, said that all the workers, including medical and administrative staff, are very keen to harness all the potentials to provide the best health services for the pilgrims at all fields, including the specialized medical services which have witnessed a quantum leap in terms of quantity and quality, through an advanced curative system, in addition to highly skilled medical staff.
He explained that heart pulse control devices have been offered for free to a number of pilgrims who were not able to purchase obtain them in their countries, given their high cost.
He added that the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the heart health center registered an increase in the number of heart operations, including heart catheterization and open-heart surgeries, conducted in the year 1435H compared to 1434H by more than 15%. The cases received by air ambulance, in collaboration with the Saudi Red Crescent Authority, increased by more than 180% in 1435H compared to 1434H.
Within the same vein, he said that KAMC in Makkah is very keen to develop all its medical centers and sections, including the reputed Cardiology Center, staffed with 150 of the best health professionals including, 67 consultants and specialists (physicians), 54 specialists and technicians, and 29 heart catheterization nurses. He added that the City provides its patients with heart pulse control devices and cardiac defibrillators, which are transplanted to the patient and followed up regularly in a special clinic.
He went on to say that the center is equipped with the latest medical equipments, that currently include 30 cardiac ICU beds, in addition to 50 cardiac inpatient beds, 10 beds for heart surgery care, and 17 heart surgery inpatient beds. The all receive extraordinary medical care, with a nurse dedicated to caring for each heart surgery patient.
Dr, Ba-Jamal concluded that the Heart Health Center is currently conducting at least 10 catheterization operations on a daily basis. This could reach up to 60 operations a day if need be. The time needed for conducting one operation, according to Ba-Jamal, does not exceed one hour and half. In addition, 2-3 open-heart surgeries are conducted per day. This could reach up to 6 operations a day. It should be noted, nevertheless, that the number of heart surgeries during the Hajj season rises dramatically.