LONG Flat resident Robert Kennedy made history on Monday as the first patient at Port Macquarie Base Hospital's specialised heart laboratory.
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The 77-year-old had a coronary angiogram at the cardiac catheterisation laboratory.
It marked the first time the procedure was performed at the hospital and meant Mr Kennedy did not have to leave the Hastings to have an angiogram.
"I would have automatically thought I would have had to go to Sydney," Mr Kennedy said.
"My brother, eight weeks prior, had the procedure done in Sydney."
The cardiac catheterisation laboratory was part of the hospital's $104 million expansion.
A decade-long push for a cardiac catheterisation laboratory paid off with the inclusion of the facility in hospital expansion plans in 2010.
The facility is initially providing cardiac diagnostic services with a plan to expand to interventional services in the future.
Mid North Coast Local Health District Hastings-Macleay Clinical Network coordinator Dr Robert Pegram said a milestone in rural healthcare was reached this week as the new cardiac catheterisation laboratory at Port Macquarie Base Hospital commenced operation.
The cardiac catheterisation laboratory opening is the result of extensive planning and consultation. Mr Kennedy said he was impressed by the facility and the staff.
"For me, it was just a procedure I had to go through, and there was a little trepidation, but with the people around me, I could feel their enthusiasm about what was happening.
"I think it is a landmark for the area."
The former business owner said it was a comforting thought to know he would be at home by the fire after leaving the hospital on the afternoon of the procedure.
The Mid North Coast Local Health District is the first rural local health district in the state to have two cardiac catheterisation laboratories within its boundaries.
Coffs Harbour also has a cardiac catheterisation laboratory.