Cardiac Surgery has traditionally been the sphere of large hospitals in metropolises. Particularly in the eastern zone, the number of Centres performing open heart surgery has been few. In the year 2000, the very year of the formation of Jharkhand state, the Abdur Razzaque Ansari Memorial Weavers' Hospital, of the Apollo Hospitals Group, took the daring step of setting up a state-of-the-art Cardiac Sciences Department at Irba, on the outskirts of Ranchi. The hospital was funded by the weavers' cooperative of the same name and the intention was

to bring world-class health care at an affordable cost within geographical reach of the people of Jharkhand.

The Cardiac Surgery team, lead by Dr. Lalit Kapoor, has made tremendous strides since the inception of the unit, performing coronary bypass surgeries, both on- and off-pump, single and double valve replacements, corrections of congenital heart defects such as ASD, VSD, TOP, pediatric cardiac surgeries and aneurysm repairs, to name but a few. They are ably supported by the Cardiology Unit, which has a state-of-the art Cath Lab, performing angiographies, angioplasties, balloon mitral valvotomies etc. Currently, the unit is in the process of expanding its services to cope with the growing numbers of patients, as well as fine-tuning emergency medical services to deal with Cardiac emergencies such as myocardial infarctions.

The Cardiac Ambulance donated by the Rotary Club, staffed by ICU-trained nurses and paramedical staff, as well as a doctor, and equipped with all resuscitative equipment, including a defibrillator, is an integral part of this effort.