Vaasa hospital likely to shut cardiac surgery

Patients to be referred to the Tampere

The Vaasa Central Hospital is planning to shut down its cardiac surgery unit with the view to save a yearly amount of EUR 1.6 million. Sources in the directorate of health said the final decision in this regard might be made in November. If the cardiac surgery unit of the hospital is closed, the patients will be sent to the Tampere University Hospital for surgery, sources said.

 At present, the Vaasa Central Hospital is the only non-university hospital with an operative cardiac surgery unit.

 Hospital Director Auvo Rauhala said about 95% of urgent cases of heart patients could be treated with angioplasty treatment without surgery, according to a report of the hospital newsletter. The management estimated that referring surgery patients to the Tampere University Hospital and closing down its own surgery unit could be an effective cost cutting measure, said the report.