The Novick Cardiac Alliance team is a foundation to care for children with heart disease in the developing world. It has a vision that every child born with heart disease should have access to the care they need to live a long and healthy life. Today, the program consists of a group of doctors who help children around the world. Especially in countries that do not have to save all the children who need help.
Novick Cardiac Allience is not the first time in Ukraine. And today, they are in the Lviv Clinical ambulance hospital, where together with Ukrainian colleagues, they have already operated on 19 children. According to the Lviv City сouncil, the NCA team will operate on children with heart defects and will share their experience with Ukrainian cardiologists until November 20. According to the chief doctor of the medical center, it is planned to operate on at least 25 children by this time.
"Thousands of children in the Lviv region alone need heart surgery. Last week, our doctors, together with colleagues from the Novick Cardiac Alliance (USA), began counseling and operating on children with heart defects. 19 young patients were operated on: 13 — endovascular, another 6 — open surgery during this time. At least 25 surgical interventions are planned. Our task is to restore pediatric cardiac surgery in Western Ukraine and make sure that our little patients do not travel around Ukraine and the world to seek help," commented Oleh Samchuk, hospital head.
Novick Cardiac Allience patients are children from 3 months to 16 years. "Among the children who were very ill a week ago and are now healthy, Maksym is 7 months old, Danylko is 9 months old, Vika is 6 years old. They had congenital heart defects, which our doctors eliminated together with colleagues from the Novick Cardiac Alliance (USA). Danilko, for example, is just being discharged now," Samchuk wrote on his Facebook.
In a few months, Novick Cardiac Allience will return to Ukraine, and everyone who needs it will be able to get help. At the same time, those who still need such consultation or operation are asked to go to the hospital.
"If there is a need for consultation or surgery for the baby, contact our specialists. We will find an opportunity either to help now or to plan this help for the next visit of colleagues, which will be in a few months," Samchuk added.
The Clinical ambulance hospital in Lviv is the only center in Western Ukraine whose cardiologists operate on young children and infants.
