“First of its Kind” Brain Surgery at Rand Memorial

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – A “first of its kind” major brain tumor surgery was performed by physicians at Rand Memorial Hospital on Saturday.

Health officials are hoping it won’t be the last for the Grand Bahama facility. 

Vaughnique Toote reports. 

A ten-member medical team assembled on Grand Bahama over the weekend to perform a three-hour surgery on a 70-year-old woman with a cancerous brain tumor.

Grand Bahama Health Services brought in Chief Of Neurosurgery Dr. Magnus Ekedede for the life-saving procedure.

Chief of Staff Dr. Freeman Lockhart says a major challenge for Grand Bahama Health services is getting patients into Princess Margaret Hospital in the capital due to limited intensive care unit beds.

Ekedede, known by his patients as Dr. Magnus, says this major neurosurgery case sets the stage for other procedures of this nature to be performed on the island.

Dr. Magnus, who has been treating patients from Grand Bahama for over two decades, says the woman’s family was grateful to health officials.

The procedure was performed in an operating room recently renovated after Hurricane Dorian battered Grand Bahama two years ago.

However, Dr. Lockhart says it wasn’t just the facility that was crucial to this operation.