No fewer than 14 successful open heart surgeries were carried out at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex, (OAUTHC), Ile-Ife in 2016.
The Chief Medical Director of the institution, Prof Victor Adetiloye, who disclosed to newsmen in Ile-Ife, said the success story of the surgery operation was recorded based on the competent doctors they have on ground.
Adetiloye explained that the routine surgeries that people travel abroad to perform have been successfully handled at the lesser cost in OAUTHC.
He appealed to Nigerians who are of the opinion that until they travel abroad, they can’t get any solution to their health challenges, that it can be easily done at OAUTHC, Ile-ife.
In the same vein, a Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Doctor Uvie Onokpoya stated that hole in heart which has three sections of surgery, that people travel abroad to perform with over N6 million in India, has been attended to by our medical experts with less than a million naira.
He added that people should first visit their hospital to examine the degree of their ailment whether it could be done in Ile-Ife teaching hospital, if not, such patient can now get referred to abroad for such.
He explained that OAUTHC has modern equipment, coupled with well trained and high skilled professional medical experts.
“We will strive to do more of the open heart surgery this year, as it has been scheduled to begin very soon in OAUTHC, Ile-Ife.”
He said, “What we are doing here is to save people from financial and emotional embarrassment, wear and tear of the body for the people who travel abroad for such treatments.”
“For instance, people go abroad for minor surgery like anoraphy which is very common and can be successfully handled here in OAUTHC without much stress with little amount.
Meanwhile, Dr John Okeniyi, a Paediatric Consultant Cardiologist, explained that hole in heart ailment is acquired over time by adult.
The management eulogised the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Sen Iyiola Omisore, Dr Themo Edmund, Dr Ramon Adedoyin and Feature Hope Foundation, based in UK, for their gesture toward the development of the hospital.
The hospital authority called on good people of Nigeria to collaborate with the government to provide more modern equipment and to give training and retraining of medical personnel to alleviate health challenges that make our people to run abroad.

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