Copernicus health centre is another place we visited as part of a joint project of Pomorskie Prestige and Zatoka Piękna aimed at familiarising patients from Poland and abroad with medical centres in Pomorskie. However, it would be impossible to visit every single facility, so we went to the Nicolaus Copernicus Hospital, where we had an amazing opportunity to visit the Departments of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, Neurosurgery, and Laser Therapy Centre. We talked to the doctors and we could take a closer look at surgeons at work. We present to you a comprehensive report from the visit.
Copernicus comprises several organisational units with a long history, which have been undergoing extensive modernisation throughout several couple of years. The company manages, among others, the Nicolaus Copernicus Hospital, the Hospital of St. Adalbert, the Regional Cancer Centre and the Regional Dental Clinic.
– “Our greatest undertaking, the construction of a facility with an operating block at the Hospital of St. Adalbert in the district of Zaspa. In addition, we performed a comprehensive overhaul of almost all wards in the Hospital of Nicolaus Copernicus and the Hospital of St. Adalbert in the district of Zaspa. The Hospital of Nicolaus Copernicus also received a helipad. At the moment, at the same hospital, a construction of the Centre of Diagnostic Imaging is under way. We have invested substantial funds in purchasing of medical equipment “- says in an interview with the editors of Zatoka Piękna, Dariusz Kostrzewa, CEO of Copernicus.
During our visit in the Hospital of Nicolaus Copernicus in Gdańsk, which is part of the Copernicus family, we adhered to all the safety standards. This also applied upon entering the operating theatre, which was very impressive.
The Department of Neurosurgery
Our visit to the Department of Neurosurgery was not accidental. It attracts patients from all over Poland, as well as numerous foreigners, due to its state-of-the-art treatment methods, which include skull base surgeries, nasal cavity surgeries, orbital surgeries, as well as minimally-invasive treatments of discopathy and different types of spinal cancer.
As explained to us by dr. Stanislaw Adamski: – “We perform surgeries of different types of brain tumours, including ones that require extremely complex neuromodulatory techniques, which entails implantation of stimulators into the brain, a process that is called deep brain stimulation. Surgeries on skull base tumours, which due to their location require strict co-operation between a neurosurgeon and neurophysiologist, as well as utilisation of state-of-the-art equipment. We are talking about intraoperative neuronavigation, which allows to assess the exact point of entry and the location of the tumour.
Of course, we also perform procedures on the spine, spinal cord, trauma surgeries, from the cervical to the lumbar section. As for the head and spine surgeries, our are surgeons are among the most experienced in these kinds of procedures. “
Marek Białonoga from, Commercial Sales Section has no doubt about remarkable skills of the specialists in Copernicus: – “Dr. Witold Libionka specialises in deep brain stimulation procedures. He is the operator who has probably performed the greatest number of such procedures in Poland – more than 300 – and has had outstanding results in terms of improving the condition of patients with Parkinson’s disease. “
– “Among our team of neurosurgeons, together with prof. Wojciech Kloc and Dr. Wojciech Wasilewski, we began popularising the minimally-invasive techniques during the upper spine surgeries, trauma operations, as well as pathologies in the border between the spine and the brain. We have reduced the susceptibility connected to some of the more mutilating operations to a minimum. It was made possible by using high-end equipment. Every operation, be it the spine or the head, vascular or oncological surgery, degenerative spine surgery, is performed with the use of modern intraoperative microscopes,” – adds Dr. Stanislaw Adamski.
The Department of Trauma and Orthopedic Surgery
During “trauma” treatments at the Department of Trauma and Orthopedic Surgery modern surgical techniques are used, such as dynamic fixation, intramedullary nails or external fixators. Procedures for knee, shoulder, ankle and hip joint stabilisation, as well as osteoplastic of foot deformities are successfully performed here.
Dr. Rafal Pankowski told us all about the skills of specialists who work at the ward: – “We perform basically all possible orthopaedic surgeries, from children’s surgeries, of both traumatic injuries as well as scheduled procedures, through alloplasty of large joints, endoscopic procedures, hand surgery, cancer procedures, and our greatest pride: spinal surgery procedures, which are performed by both orthopaedists and neurosurgeons. Orthopaedics does everything here from A to Z, some of the things we are doing are internationally recognised.
What distinguishes us most in Pomorskie is the treatment of not only childhood scoliosis, but also other, broadly defined deformities, i.e. deformities of the spine of various origins, both idiopathic scoliosis and degenerative changes, post-fracture changes, spine inflammations, etc.
We possess state-of-the-art equipment, which minimises the risk of complications. All our actions are analysed on the go as part of the Polish Register of Spinal Surgery.
Due to the fact that orthopaedics is a very broad speciality, we are divided into several sections: a team that is engaged in hand surgery, paediatric surgery unit, endoscopy unit, prosthetics unit and spine unit. “
The Laser Therapy Centre
During our visit to the Hospital of Nicolaus Copernicus we also visited a special place – the Polsat Foundation. Laser Therapy Centre. It is here that small patients are treated – primarily those with congenital vascular anomalies, i.e. various vascular defects, mainly in the skin and subcutaneous tissue, but also in deeper tissues (e.g. In the area of facial bones: lips, tongue, palate, eyelids, conjunctiva, etc.). The Centre is also involved in complex treatment of scars, especially burn scars, where laser is one of the most important methods of treatment. It is worth noting that this is the best-equipped facility of this kind in Poland. Additionally, it has excellent conditions for both children and adults.
– “The Laser Therapy Centre offers very comfortable environment for small patients, as well as their parents, and plenty of modern equipment. Recently, we acquired two new devices that really expanded our therapeutic capabilities. We have a pulsed-colour laser, two neodymium YAG lasers, two CO2 lasers, currently with fractional option available, diode laser, KTP laser or a device for diagnosing skin diseases.
We treat mainly children’s vascular anomalies, as well as burn scars. These are the main groups of patients. However, adults from all over the country are admitted as commercial patients.” – says Dr. Dariusz Wyrzykowski.
It is not surprising that Copernicus Health Centre, due to the perfectly specialised staff of doctors and modern medical equipment, is able to successfully perform even the most complex operations on patients from the country and abroad. – “We have a large group of foreign patients. We are visited by patients from all over the world, mainly from within the EU, but we also treat patients from Canada or the US ” – says Dariusz Kostrzewa.
