IT'S World Heart Day and the team at Lake Macquarie Private Hospital have celebrated their 8888th cardiac surgery.
The team is headed by cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Allen James, who worked at the hospital for its very first case 28 years ago.
"It's a privilege to be able to help people in this way," he said.
"I love to see people get through really complex operations and have an improved quality of life and length of life."
Over the years, the hospital has been able to offer more complex surgeries to patients across the Hunter.
When the unit first began, it primarily did bypass surgery - now it can handle valve surgeries like repairs and aortic surgery, complex re-do heart surgery and a large amount of thoracic surgery.
On World Heart Day, Dr James urged people to protect their heart health.
"Don't smoke, control your blood pressure, manage any diabetes, have your cholesterol checked regularly, live a healthy life and make sure your local doctor intervenes if any of those risk factors come into your life," he said.
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