Beirut, March 10, 2022: U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon H.E. Dorothy Shea and Lebanese American University (LAU) president Dr. Michel Mawad inaugurated the first of its kind advanced hybrid operating room at LAU Medical Center – Rizk Hospital in Achrafieh in the presence of USAID Lebanon Acting Mission Director Mr. Nicholas Vivio, and LAU and Rizk Hospital faculty and staff. This operating room is part of a $1.34 million grant provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) program to purchase medical equipment to improve patient safety, staff efficiency, surgical outcomes, and cost effectiveness.
This new hybrid operating room is an advanced surgical room equipped with state of the art medical imager (C shaped x-ray machine) and surgical table, anesthesia machine, ventilators, electrosurgical unit and patient monitors, allowing for extremely complicated and advanced surgical procedures. This intervention brings together multiple surgical and procedural specialists, such as cardiologists, gastroenterologists, surgeons, radiologists and pulmonologists into one common area.
Ambassador Shea stated, “This operating room exemplifies the long-term partnership between the United States and the Lebanese American University, which is deeply rooted in our shared vision to save and improve lives, assist those in need, and empower sustainable institutions. This initiative is also one of a number of investments the United States has made in Lebanon through our ASHA program to support two of the most critical service sectors in the country — education and healthcare.”
Dr Mawad declared (TBD): “LAU Medical Center- Rizk Hospital takes immense pride in launching this hybrid operating room in cooperation with USAID and ASHA, offering its patients the latest in surgery experience where a single surgical room can combine imaging equipment with a multifunctional surgical table.”
“The ability to image patients during surgery is one of the most anticipated capabilities of the new Hybrid OR’s. This technology will enable the patients to be treated by world class specialists located outside the country without having the need to travel or fly-in in order to operate the patients hence providing efficiency and optimal care”, he concluded.