Eight months after it was commissioned with much pomp and ceremony the so-called state-of-the-art hospital at Lethem is being referred to by residents of the community and its surrounding areas as a white elephant.
Upset at the sometimes poor and mostly no service being offered at the institution, residents are calling on the relevant authorities to urgently look into the matter. “We would like to go to the hospital one day for treatment and be treated and not to be transferred to Bom Fin or Boa Vista,” a Lethem resident recently told Stabroek News by phone. They are often required to make the journey on their own as when nurses accompany them they are not taken care of and sometimes are left without food.
According to a number of residents, including officials at the hospital, in most instances the facility only serves as a dispensary for residents.
Lack of facilities and inexperienced doctors were given as some of the reasons the hospital cannot even be referred to as a mere cottage hospital. It was stated that other than some dental services, therapy and treatment for suspected tuberculosis there was not much else the hospital offered. The laboratory has not been functional for quite some time.
When this newspaper attempted to contact the Regional Health Officer for Region Nine, it was revealed that he had been demoted and sent back to his home in Annai where he now works as a medex.
The hospital has no administrator, and Stabroek News learnt that its CEO former army major CS Vaughn had left the post he was appointed to late last year at the start of April. “His authority was being usurped…” one source told this newspaper.
Contacted by this newspaper Vaughn directed all queries to the regional administration and said that his resignation was “something between they [the regional administration] and I and I would like it to remain that way.”
Minister in the Ministry of Health Dr Bheri Ramsarran, who has responsibility for regional health services also could not be contacted.
Referrals
According to the many persons with whom this newspaper spoke, patients, even with the simplest of complaints would most times be transferred to Bom Fin and then to Boa Vista in Brazil.
Stabroek News was told that it is cheaper to transfer persons to that country than to Georgetown.
“All the patients are sent with is the referral letters in their pockets and sometimes they are left for days before they are treated,” one source said.
The source added that when a person dies in Brazil it is more difficult for relatives to transport their bodies and in some cases it is difficult even to track the body down.
The residents said officials at the Ministry of Health are aware of the difficulties they are experiencing but nothing is being done and many said that the old hospital offered a better service than the new one.
“Imagine for a simple fracture a person has to be referred, can this be fair?” one resident asked.
This newspaper was told that most of the facilities at the hospital are not functioning and the fact that the two doctors posted there had only returned from being trained in Cuba recently did not help matters.
They said the doctors only write referral letters to transfer persons to Brazil and in a few cases to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH). It was pointed out that new doctors are supposed to work under supervision, but instead these two doctors are the only two at the regional hospital which services many villages.
“There is not a week when there are not about ten persons being referred to Brazil. Imagine a patient was transferred because they had cotton wool in their ears,” one source told this newspaper. “This hospital is not equipped to do anything short of delivering medical supply and there is definitely need for a senior doctor.”
Meanwhile, according to sources officials in Boa Vista have been complaining that patients from Guyana are putting a strain on their medical services. They pointed out the regional authorities in the town have indicated that their budget only caters for 20 referrals and this number has been surpassed since February.
“So you see when our patients go to Boa Vista they are not given priority and sometimes it is days before they are treated,” the source said.
‘Alone’
A 40-year-old father of four from the village of Aishalton, some miles away from Lethem, recounted to Stabroek News the gruelling bus journey from Lethem to Georgetown with a fractured leg.
The man, who only gave his name as Sam, said that after four days of lying at the Lethem Hospital in pain he was told that he was going to be airlifted to Georgetown. However, when he was taken from the hospital he was instead taken to a bus where his fare was paid and he was on his way.
“Girl it was painful. It was so much pain it was terrible,” the man told this newspaper.
When the journey ended he realized that his worries were not over as he was put off in Waterloo Street; he had no money in his pocket and the only thing he was armed with was his referral letter.
“But is a good thing I walk with me crutches and I know Georgetown a little bit so on me crutches I walk to Georgetown hospital and I show them me referral letter,” the man told this newspaper from Lethem on the phone.
He said with his swollen leg he was placed to sit on a bench and it was only after he complained about the pain he was experiencing that he was placed to lie down. The man said he was seen by a doctor some hours later and his leg was placed in Plaster of Paris and he was told that he had to return two days later.
“Now I there by meself, I have no money, I have nothing but is a good thing I know a friend on the East Bank and I call he and right away he tell me come by he and he tell me tek a taxi and he will pay,” the man said.
He told Stabroek News that he was very grateful to his friend who assisted him with food and a shelter and gave him money to return to the GPH where his leg was operated on.
Sam said he was admitted after the operation and had to depend on another friend to take meals for him.
After four days in the hospital he was discharged and told he had to return a few days later. Upon his return, Sam said, the doctor wanted him to join a clinic but he explained his situation and was told to return on June 21.
“I tell me friend that I could go home but I had no money and he give me the $9,000 to get the bus,” the farmer said.
While speaking to Stabroek News Sam, who said he knew nothing about the Amerindian hostel, was attempting to arrange transportation from Lethem to his home. He said while a relative agreed to take him on a bike he was awaiting another relative’s promise of some fuel for the bike.
The Lethem Hospital was a joint venture between the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Government of Guyana. At the commissioning last September 14, Dr Ramsaran had said that the new facility was state-of-the art and would rival any regional hospital in the country. He had said the hospital would be adequately staffed with personnel who had the skills that were necessary.
