Competition is rife in the provision of dialysis treatment in Guyana, with the Dr Balwant Singh Hospital recently advertising drastically reduced rates of $12,000 per session.
In recent advertisements, the private hospital stated that dialysis could be had for $12,000 per session and if a patient paid for a month’s worth of treatments the cost would be further reduced to $10,000.
“While it has a lot to do with competition it also has to do with our hospital trying to meet the needs of everyone and offering a wider range of services and specialised treatments,” Dr Balwant Singh told Stabroek News. He also said that the drop in cost at his facility was also due to internal purchasing changes, as the hospital recently switched buyers of needed medications for dialysis treatment.
The cost of dialysis had only a few months ago been quoted at $25,000 dollars per session at the hospital, while the 5G Dialysis Centre in South Ruimveldt Gardens offered its services at $36,000 per session.
With the opening last year of the Doobay Medical Centre and the Georgetown Public Hospital offering free dialysis treatments, the public now has more choices.
While the Doobay Centre has a $15,000 per session fee attached to treatment, persons with who cannot afford to pay at all are still treated. The centre’s representative Vickram Ouditt said that he was pleased to hear of the lower costs at Balwant Singh. “I am glad that we could have in some way contributed to low cost dialysis for persons. It means that now more persons are able to access needed healthcare at reasonable costs and that’s what we wanted from the beginning to offer to patients necessary healthcare services,” Ouditt said.
Over at the 5G Dialysis Centre, their representative, Nurse Petrie, said that while they might revise their pricing there was no way they could afford to offer dialysis treatment lower than $20,000. “…We might think of lowering ours, yes, but I know for sure we can’t go lower than $20,000,” she said. The health caregiver said that the facility currently treats 10 long-term patients and that they work from Monday to Friday to provide service without any subsidy from government or donors.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health said it is pleased to know that it has contributed to the lowering of the cost of dialysis treatment, even more so knowing that theirs is of the same effectiveness and free. “The Ministry of Health is proud that they too are able to provide a service to the public free of cost which is efficient and effective as those provided by the private facilities,” it said.
