The St. Joseph Mercy Hospital (SJMH) has launched a brand new COVID-19 testing and treatment facility at the St. Paul Retreat Centre at Vryheid’s Lust, East Coast Demerara.
A release from the hospital today said that the new “COVID-19 Testing, Treatment and Isolation Centre” meets all national criteria for such a facility and was licenced by Guyana’s Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) after a stringent inspection.
Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO) of SJMH, Deborrah Ramsay, said the hospital was keenly aware that COVID-19 testing and treatment can be overwhelming and wanted to make the hospital’s highly skilled personnel and medical resources available to help control the spread of the disease and assist those who contract it.
Ramsay said the Catholic Church of Guyana promptly joined the hospital’s cause, and Bishop Francis Alleyne of the Diocese of Georgetown allowed the SJMH to use one of the church’s buildings for the COVID-19 centre.
“We are thankful to the Catholic Church of Guyana for making this spacious facility available for this purpose. We are also happy to assure our patients that COVID-19 patients are not being treated at our institution in Kingston and therefore there is no need to worry as it relates to accessing treatment and care for other health related concerns,” Ramsay said in the release.
The hospital spent $20 million to develop the centre as an all-inclusive COVID-19 facility. According to Ramsay, the hospital spared no effort to provide top-rated medical products, amenities and services at the centre.
To this end, the COVID-19 Centre was fitted with 37 beds, a broad system of air conditioning units and an adequate number of sanitary blocks, while also meeting MOPH air-quality requirements.
Persons who have tested positive at the Centre and decide to be admitted there would not be required to pay for the initial test. All tests required prior to discharge will attract a fee.
For more information, please contact Centre Manager, Jerri Dias at 220-2959 or Deborrah Ramsay at 227-7139. You can also email admin1@sjmh.org.gy.