A digestive diseases and liver health centre offering a comprehensive multi-disciplinary and holistic approach for the early detection, diagnosis and treatment of complex gastrointestinal, liver, gallbladder and pancreatic diseases was launched at Netcare Rosebank Hospital in Johannesburg recently.
“The Digestive Diseases and Liver Health Centre at the hospital brings together a range of medical disciplines as well as ancillary healthcare services to provide a highly patient centred service for referring physicians and their patients,” says Jacques du Plessis, managing director of the Netcare hospital division.
According to Du Plessis, the new centre, the development of which has been driven by hepatopancreaticobiliary surgeon, Dr Anna Sparaco in association with Netcare, is designed to provide patients with an all-inclusive multi-disciplinary service for the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases by a team of highly trained and experienced specialists.
“The facility offers a holistic and integrated service to patients with digestive diseases, and the centre is a novel concept for private medicine within Gauteng province. We fully expect the Digestive Diseases and Liver Health Centre at Netcare Rosebank Hospital to serve as a specialist referral service for patients not only from the province but from around the country and indeed the African continent.”
Sparaco says that the centre offers a number of sub-specialities including gastroenterology; hepatology, internal medicine, surgery and medical and radiation oncology. Advanced interventional endoscopic services including endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, endoscopic ultrasound, Spy Glass, double balloon endoscopy and capsular endoscopy are also available.
“In addition to the standard open or laparoscopic surgical expertise, the ability to ablate tumours via various technologies such as radiofrequency ablation, microwave ablation, selective internal radiation therapy [SIRT] and chemo-embolisation are part of the centre’s armamentarium in the fight against cancers,” observes Sparaco.
“With a team of gastroenterologists, hepato-pancreato-biliary [HPB] specialists and general surgeons, interventional endoscopists, specialist physicians, interventional radiologists, medical and radiation oncologists, laboratory service professionals and dieticians, we have a comprehensive and highly patient centred approach for the full spectrum of gastrointestinal diseases, which include the liver and pancreas,” points out Sparaco.
“At the Digestive Diseases and Liver Health Centre, we view each patient as an individual with unique needs and expectations. This understanding guides the team in developing an individualised and highly targeted treatment plan that takes into consideration each patient’s specific circumstances, lifestyle and personal goals,” says Sparaco.
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