On April 8, 71-year-old Heather Holdaway became the first person to have an Endo Vascular Aortic Repair (EVAR) at Taranaki Base Hospital. A retired nurse has become the first person to undergo a life-saving surgery in Taranaki thanks to the $3.6 million state-of-the-art angiography suite at the region's main hospital. Heather Holdaway, 71, underwent an Endo Vascular Aortic Repair (EVAR) at Taranaki Base Hospital, saving her a 240 kilometre trip to Waikato Hospital in Hamilton, where Taranaki patients were sent for the procedure until last week. X-ray – a key feature of Taranaki DHB's $3.6 million angiography suite - helps doctors guide the graft into the right spot, Dr Sibanda said. "A lot of people donated money for the angiography suite to be created so these procedures can be done here."

Source: Stuff April 16, 2019 01:30 UTC