Two smart health centres have been designed and will be constructed in Carlton Hall Village in Mahaicony and Mon Choisi Village in West Berbice.
According to a press release from the Department of Public Information (DPI), “Smart” health facilities cater to the individualised needs of patients and identify opportunities for staff and administrators that broaden treatment options as well as facilities at the location where that treatment is provided.
The release stated that the Administration of Region 5 awarded contracts to G. Singh Contracting Services in September, for the construction of one Smart Health Centre at Carlton Hall, Mahaicony and another at Mon Choisi at a cost of $26.5M and $28M respectively.
Region 5 Engineer, Dhanpaul Sukha explained that there are certain facilities which will be built into the two centres, the release stated. These include access ramps, washroom facilities, lots of natural ventilation, shatterproof glass windows, adequate fire protection, as well as green economy concepts such as installation of LED light bulbs in the buildings instead of the traditional fluorescent lights.
According to the release, the facility at Carlton Hall will replace the building currently being used at neighbouring Highdam which housed the health facilities on the upper floor, thereby posing a hazard for patients who had to negotiate the stairs; while the centre at Mon Choisi replaces the one currently at Cotton Tree which had been constructed on a plot of privately owned land which had been a source of controversy.
Sukha, the release stated, explained that as at last week the new health centre at Carlton Hall was 40 percent complete, while work had not quite begun on the centre at Mon Choisi because of squatting on the proposed site. However, with the issue resolved (at the time of reporting) work on the Mon Choisi Health Centre will commence in the week of October 23, 2017, the release stated.
According to the release, the contractor has been given twelve weeks and ten weeks to complete the Carlton Hall and Mon Choisi projects respectively. This will ensure that both facilities are completed finished before year end.
Sukha disclosed that as the Regional Engineer he had attended a very intensive training programme by the WHO and the PAHO on the requirements for a smart health facility and the designs of the two new Health Centres had been prepared in keeping with the basic principles acquired, the release stated.
