Chávez inaugurates largest children’s cardiology hospital in Latin America

CARACAS, August 20.—Today Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez inaugurated in the capital the Latin American Children’s Cardiology Hospital, considered the government’s most important achievement in the public health field.

On his Sunday "Aló Presidente" program, the leader spoke with specialized personnel working at the institution, the largest of its type in Latin America, with an area of nearly 50,000 square meters.

According to expert sources, the center—named Gilberto Rodríguez Ochoa—has the capacity to perform 1,440 operations this year.

The facility has 144 hospital beds, 33 of them for intensive care; four operating rooms; 30 consultation rooms; and 82 residential rooms.

As part of the health strategy, the hospital will have a learning unit dedicated to training personnel responsible for running the center, always maintaining attention to quality of patient care.

Its stated goal is to respond in its initial years to the needs of thousands of children with heart malformations, which constitutes the second cause of childhood death in the nation.