For the UNISAMI – United for Better Healthcare association, the inauguration of the Cardiac Surgery Unit at the Annunziata hospital in Cosenza marks the end of a years-long wait and the achievement of an objective for which the association has continuously fought.
Representing UNISAMI at the ceremony were the president Roberto Altimari and his member Francesca Salimbeni. For Altimari the day also had a personal meaning: his sister Adriana lost her life due to an aortic dissection when there was no cardiac surgery department in Cosenza yet. Salimbeni also experienced a family loss linked to the same lack of care.
«Today it is difficult to separate satisfaction from emotion – says Altimari –. My thoughts go to my sister Adriana and to all the people who over the years have not had the opportunity in Cosenza that finally exists today. It is also for them that we have carried on this battle. Knowing that other families will be able to find an answer here, without having to face transfers and racing against time, gives meaning to so many years of commitment.”
The new cardiac surgery of the Annunziata
The new structure is part of the cardio-thoracic-vascular block of the Annunziata and was created to strengthen the care of patients with complex cardiac pathologies, reduce transfers and combat healthcare mobility.
The skills of the University of Calabria also contribute to the project, with Professor Daniele Maselli, one of the leading Italian experts in minimally invasive cardiac surgery, while the direction of the complex operational unit has been entrusted to Professor Luca Paolo Weltert.
Altimari’s thanks
Altimari expressed thanks «to the president of the Calabria Region Roberto Occhiuto, for having given this project the right priority in regional health planning; to the general director of the Cosenza hospital Vitaliano De Salazar, for believing in its creation and carrying it forward with determination; to Professor Daniele Maselli, for the scientific and professional value placed at the service of the territory; and to Professor Luca Paolo Weltert, called to lead a structure on which Cosenza and Calabria place great expectations”.
«UNISAMI does not need to claim merit – concludes Altimari -. We are interested in knowing that we have done our part. Today we are not just celebrating the opening of a department: we are celebrating an additional possibility of care and life for citizens.”