Eye hospital opens with CSI surgeries
Some of the first patients to be admitted to a new ophthalmic hospital in Cape Town will include indigent patients, who cannot afford to have eye surgery.
The Life Peninsula Eye Hospital – opened by Life Healthcare – will perform 50 eye surgery/cataract removals during October as part of Eye Awareness Month.
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“Eye surgeries such as these can change a person’s life dramatically within minutes. One minute their sight is cloudy and blurry and then next minute they have clear vision. It’s a wonderful opportunity to perform a sight-restoring procedure that has such a huge impact on a patient’s life” says ophthalmologist, Dr Andrew Ivey, who is part of a team of doctors who offer their time and skill every year to assist in in restoring sight to patients in need.
Dr Ivey continues that the procedure is minimally invasive as only a small incision is made through the cornea, and the patient is usually in theatre for less than 30 minutes with the patient recovering quickly from the procedure.
The new hospital comprises two theatres, one procedure room and 10 beds, as well as a laser suite with a latest generation excimer laser which allows specialists to remove or ablate microscopic amounts of tissue from the cornea with a very high degree of accuracy and without damaging the surrounding corneal tissue.
