Hurstville Private Hospital's Heart Centre is expanding its cardiology program to offer cardiothoracic services, meaning local patients will not have to travel to Sydney's inner city for treatment.
Led by one of the country's top cardiothoracic surgeons, Dr Arjun Iyer, the service will offer a range of treatments including coronary artery bypass grafting, aortic valve surgery, lymph node dissection, lobectomy and the removal of tumours from the chest cavity.
Dr Iyer said Hurstville Private Hospital took in patients from a wide area.
"We have clinics in Wollongong and the Illawarra, and Hurstville itself borders The Shire and the St George catchment - it's a big area and there's no other cardio surgery available further south than that, until you get into Victoria," he said.
"Having these services at Hurstville will mean patients won't have to travel into the metro area of Sydney itself and ease of travel and being able to see people closer to their own home is very important.
"You know, it's even little things like ease of parking, and patients being able to have their loved ones around during recovery, which is so important for their psychological health and wellbeing."
Dr Iyer and his team also work from St Vincent's Hospital, one of Australia's leading heart hospitals.
"We do the really complex work there and it's going to be the same at Hurstville," he said.
"My established team will be going with me, bringing that St Vincent's brand and quality to Hurstville."
He added Hurstville Private Hospital and the Heart Centre had recently been completely refurbished.
"Everything there is all very new, the theatres are very new, there's very nice facilities, with all the latest bypass pumps and devices," Dr Iyer said.
"Hurstville has the latest echocardiogram monitors and equipment, all the tools and gadgets we need.
"It's the best quality and that's all absolutely essential for patient outcomes, you don't want to be working with outdated equipment."
Associate Professor Ben Kwan, director of respiratory services at Hurstville Private, said the addition of the cardiothoracic service was a "significant asset" for the local community.
"Having a specialist of Dr Iyer's standing and expertise join the Hurstville Private team is a wonderful achievement," he said.
The hospital's director of cardiology services, Dr Mark Sader, said he was thrilled with the development.
"I'm delighted to see our valuable cardiac and respiratory services extended at Hurstville Private Hospital," he said.
"And it is exciting to have a world-leading cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr Arjun Iyer, join our team."
Dr Iyer said his team would be able "take care of any surgery" at Hurstville, including treatment for lung cancer.
"With the facilities already there, there will now be a huge amount of patients that will be able to be referred in-house, and we can have it all sorted within a week or two," he said.
"Anything, any surgery that has some level of complexity, we have the staff and the training and the ability to take care of it."
