The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) continues to ramp up its readiness to house and care for COVID-19 patients even as the number of cases continues to rise.
As Guyana continues to fight against the spread of the global pandemic, the country’s largest public hospital which is currently the main hub for treatment and care for persons who have tested positive for the virus is continuing works in an effort to prepare for every possible outcome.
This disclosure was made by GPHC’s Communications Manager, Chelauna Providence, who told Stabroek News recently that all of the necessary measures are currently in place at the hospital to care for those who have contracted the disease. She informed that what is currently ongoing is continuous training for staff at the hospital to ensure that they are sensitised and ready. “The only thing that is ongoing is training for our staff, so that we can have more staff who are specifically trained to deal with patients who are COVID positive and even suspected cases,” Providence explained.
Currently, she added, there is adequate staff at the hospital’s COVID-19 facilities at both the screening stations and even the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and isolation units. She noted that since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in Guyana there has not been a staff shortage even as most of the staffers currently working in the COVID-19 facilities are staffers who have volunteered to work on a rotating schedule. “We are full well staffed. We haven’t had an issue with shortage of staff so far and we have had some other persons indicate their interest or willingness to work,” the Communications Manager said, adding that they are even still encouraging more persons to come on board.
She remarked that some staffers work an eight-hour shift and others work a twelve-hour shift at both the screening stations and the ICU. Giving an example, she stated that there is always a need to have a certain amount of staffers at the screening stations at all times, while at the ICU, the number of staffers at the facility is dependent on the number of patients at the ICU as a certain number of doctors/nurses are assigned per patient.
When asked about there being adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the staffers, she iterated that that would depend on the situation. For instance if there is an influx of 200 COVID-19 patients in the facilities that would mean that there would be a need for a larger number of staff in the facilities at any one time causing the need for additional PPE’s. Providence assured that the institution will continue to be careful with how the equipment is used, “We are trying to manage our resources so that we don’t misuse them or waste them.”
“I think we have prepared ourselves for anything that can come in to the hospital, COVID or non COVID,” she declared and emphasised that they will continue to prepare for the worst as there is no telling what the outcome can be.
