Health Minister Dola Sree Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy inaugurated a ‘Heart and Lung’ machine at the King George Hospital (KGH) on Tuesday. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said: “The Cardio Thoracic and Vascular Surgery (CVTS) unit at the Cardiology Department of KGH is saving the lives of several heart patients from North Andhra.”
The equipment costing ₹2 crore, was donated by ICICI Bank Foundation.
Mr. Veeranjaneya Swamy said that the Cardiology Department opened between 1995-98 at KGH, has been conducting open heart surgeries even before the year 2000. The malfunctioning of the heart lung machine had been causing difficulties to patients for a while now. Visakhapatnam South MLA Vamsikrishna Srinivas had brought it to his notice. Collector M.N. Harendhira Prasad impressed upon the ICICI Bank and the latter funded the machine under their CSR programme.
The Minister shared that the Cath Lab is also being upgraded with CSR funds. Measures were being taken to digitise the health records of the people in the State under the ‘Sanjeevani’ project. The treatments, not covered under NTR Vaidya Seva, are being funded through the CM Relief Fund. He also announced that two new operation theatres, funded by the ICICI Bank, have recently started functioning.
