The Maternity Ward of the Skeldon Hospital has received a $3M (US$14,000) upgrade through a successful public-private partnership between the Public Health Ministry and the Florida-Guyana Hope Incorporated and their local counterparts Guyana-Florida Hope Incorporated.
According to a report from the Department of Information (DPI) the Ward is now fully air-conditioned and equipped with five beds, five recliners, five bedside cabinets and a private bathroom.
Mohamed Yasin, the head of the donor agency is reported as saying that the project, while initiated in January, actually got underway in March of this year. The goal, he noted, was to provide a more comfortable space and privacy for the expectant mothers who use the facility.
The Focal Point Coordinator and Special Advisor to the Minister of Public Health, Alex Foster expressed gratitude to the donors and called on other stakeholders to come on board.
He noted that while government through the ministry is working to improve health services across Guyana, much more can be achieved through Public/ Private Partnerships.
Foster explained that the ministry took the initiative to upgrade the female ward and the administrative complex at the same time while the donors were rehabilitating the Maternity Ward and that soon the hospital will have its own operating theatre while the “entire front wing that houses the male ward will also be upgraded in 2020.”
With these imminent upgrades, the facility would have seen a complete overhaul as the laboratory and the paediatric ward were also renovated earlier this year, Foster noted adding that the ministry is working tirelessly to deliver quality health care and the focus is not on speed but direction.
“The ministry… is heading in the right direction and will get towards our goal of delivering world-class health care to every Guyanese,” Foster is quoted as saying.
According to DPI the Skeldon Hospital has seen a rise in the number of patients accessing services and is expecting to see a further increase given the upgraded maternity ward.
Doctor-in-Charge, Dr. Ryan Campbell explained that the Skeldon Hospital treats an average of 40,000 patients annually between the villages of Eversham on the Corentyne to as far as the remote Indigenous communities of Orealla and Siparuta on the Corentyne River.
Dr. Campbell also highlighted that from 2016 to present, the hospital has admitted over 450 maternal patients with over 320 successful deliveries; and 149 transfers; and since 2017, the hospital has recorded zero maternal deaths and zero stillbirths.
He noted that the partnership with the donors and the hospital not only seeks to provide upgraded infrastructure and service delivery but also a relaxed environment for the maternity patients.
