A refurbished neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) was reopened on Thursday at the West Demerara Regional Hospital.
At a simple commissioning ceremony, Minister of Public Health Dr. George Norton said the reopening of the state-of-art facility would also see fewer women traveling from the region to Georgetown for specialised care.
“Neonatal mortality in Guyana is a major public health concern and it is currently a primary focus of the ministry,” Norton said, while reiterating his commitment to make efforts to reduce such numbers.
He noted that in December, 2015, the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) recorded a drop in mortality from 35% to 7%.
Norton said that while the new facility provides a better and cleaner environment for infants, doctors and nurses would be stationed there to provide the necessary care.
He said some nurses have been trained in neonatal care but they were unable to practice. However, they now have a good opportunity, he added.
The Canada-based Guyana Help the Kids charity assisted to make the re-opening of the unit possible.
The organisation has collaborated with the Ministry over the past three years, during which time it has donated equipment valued at Cdn$30,000 to support neonatal care in Guyana.
Aruna Faria, national coordinator of the organisation, said that in 2011 the charity was established out of the recognition that the neonatal death rate was quite high and the first initiative was to train local doctors. To complement their training, the nurses were trained as well.
A hand-hygiene programme was also started through the World Health Organisation.
In 2011, the organisation in collaboration with the University of Guyana Institute of Health Science Education launched a paediatric-residency programme at GPHC, while the neonatal nursing programme was started the next year.
The organisation has also worked with all of the hospitals to provide training and equipment for neonatal units.
It is currently working to establish the Bartica Hospital as a neonatal intensive care site.
Norton added that following the establishment of a maternity unit at the Leonora Cottage Hospital, “we will certainly cater and put measures in place to acquire a neonatal unit….”
Speaking at the ceremony, Region Three Chairman Julius Faerber said the hospital has been attracting quite a large number of maternity patients and they were placed in a cramped area and did not have the best services.
“With the opening of the new wing, I am quite certain that the maternity patients will have a better healthcare service…,” he said.
Faerber noted that patients from as far as Region Seven have been seeking treatment at the hospital.
Regional Executive Officer Dennis Jaikarran said that the health and education sectors would have seen tremendous growth and assured that it is the beginning of many things to happen in Region Three.
“It is our desire to see that all health facilities across the region are up to standard and would give the kind of service that is really and truly required,” he said.
