Winning hearts with free surgeries

Following her retirement from the Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children, Dr.  P.S. Sreemathi leads an initiative to treat underprivileged children with heart ailments

In 2002, when P.S. Sreemathi retired as Head of Department of Paediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery from the Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children, Madras Medical College, there were 700 cases of children waiting for heart surgery.

Sophisticated cardiac devices and equipment were not so common in the 80s. “When I first came to the hospital in 1988 on transfer, the paediatric cardiology department had 200 children waiting for surgery. Later, in 1990, through funding from the State Government, Government of Japan and the World Bank the hospital received equipment that lent themselves to performing four, back-to-back surgeries a day,” recalls Dr. Sreemathi.

This motivated the cardiothoracic surgeon to initiate a project where economically disadvantaged children with congenital heart diseases could be treated free in a quality set-up with experienced doctors and paramedics.

Hearts for Hearts (H4H), a public charitable trust, was born in 2011 to ensure cardiac surgery reached the poor. Under the project Solution for Cardiac Afflicted Needy (SOCAN), the trust had conducted 460 surgeries so far, with the Public Health Centre (PHC) in West Mambalam, a 70 plus year old voluntary non-profit, serving as a generous hospital partner.

While the state government and some corporate hospitals offering free cardiac surgery, what makes H4H’s initiative extra special is that it bears the entire cost of the treatment which includes diagnosing the patient, the travel expenses incurred in coming to Chennai for surgery, finding a place for lodging and offering support with medication.

Non-profit Udhavam Karangal has been lending support by offering its centres for patients convalescing after the surgery.

From finding the most deserving children in Tamil Nadu, today the team conducts medical camps in various other states to identify cases that need to be accorded utmost priority.