The Prince Sultan Cardiac Center in Al-Ahsa stands an everlasting monument to memory of the late Crown Prince Sultan in providing health care services to the people in the region.
The center was a gift from the late crown prince to the people of Al-Ahsa region. It was built by the Military Works Services, a division of the Ministry of Defense and Aviation.
In November 2003, the late crown prince laid the foundation stone for the center as his personal donation to the people of Al-Ahsa. The center started operations in February 2008. This was preceded by the commencement of outpatient clinics from July 2007.
The primary budget for the entire project was estimated to be SR 55 million. Lying on a total area of 7,431 sq m, the center includes departments for cardiac catheterization, cardiac surgery, outpatients, pediatric cardiac unit, coronary arteries ICU, and cardiac surgery ICU.
There are 45 doctors supported with 232 nurses at the center, which accommodates 75 beds.
The center is equipped with highly sophisticated medical instruments and telemedicine network. The project was continuously supported by the Ministry of Health, the governor of Al-Ahsa, and the General Directorate of Health Affairs in the Eastern Province.
The Ministry of Health has been making every effort in its quest to improve the health services provided to patients, keeping in line with its vision that seeks to maintain patients' satisfaction and put into effect their slogan “Patients First.” In this spirit, the ministry has been showing a keen interest in the establishment of specialized medical centers throughout the Kingdom, and the Prince Sultan Cardiac Center is one of the facilities maintained by the ministry.
Today, the center is crowned with several medical achievements in curative services, including performing an interventional cardiac catheterization surgery, which was the first of its kind throughout the Kingdom, to transplant a cardiac pump for a patient suffering from severe narrowness in sensitive parts of coronary arteries.
The center also performed the first valve heart operation by using endoscopy, depending on limited surgery. This is the first operation of its kind in the Middle East.
Besides these marvels, the center performed, for the first time in the Kingdom, 14 aortic valve transplantation surgeries depending on catheterization. Another great achievement accomplished by Prince Sultan Cardiac Center was the execution of 10 heart electricity catheterization surgeries for the first time in the Middle East, by using a robot to treat the pulse disorders and deficiency of heart electricity. This was part of the Kingdom's project of congenital cardiac defects undertaken by the center.
The project planned to cover the entire Kingdom involved tremendous research efforts in cooperation with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST). It is reckoned as the largest medical project specialized in congenital cardiac defects in the history of the Kingdom.
The center offers several cardiac services, including diagnostic and curative catheterization, open-heart surgeries (for both children and adults), treatment of heart failure, as well as the treatment of congenital cardiac defects. It has also specialized clinics for treating children and newborns from congenital defects, ultrasound cardiac imaging, nuclear cardiology, and robot catheterization used for the treatment of pulse disorders, among others.
Last year, the center recorded a remarkable number of 29,210 visits against 22,765 in the previous year. The number of catheterization operations during the first quarter of this year was 2,858, compared to 2,377 operations during the previous year and 2,035 operations in 2010.
The number of open-heart surgeries during the first quarter of this year was 133 operations, compared to 92 operations in the previous year. The number of patients recorded last year was 14,411 patients.