Officials at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) have not yet set a date for the resumption of elective surgeries, which were put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This was disclosed to Stabroek News by the Hospital’s Head of Strategic Planning and Communications, Chelauna Providence, who stated that the institution has yet to make an official decision and the matter is still being discussed.
Providence had told this newspaper in November that minor changes had to be made to the hospital’s day-to- day operations following the emergence of the pandemic and the subsequent establishment of a COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit at the GPH. She had reported then that elective surgeries had to be postposed as part of the minor operational changes.
In a recent interview she noted, “We haven’t made any official announcements or decisions about restarting elective surgery, it is something that we are currently in the process of discussing, because there are of course many considerations that have to be taken into account before.” The communications manager mentioned that with the many things that have to be taken into consideration, there is still risk of exposure to the virus in conducting elective surgeries.
“So there are some measures that we are currently in discussions to put in place to ensure that when we do resume the elective surgeries it is in the safest environment possible for our staff an our patients” Providence iterated, while noting that the hospital has since continued normal day-to-day operations since the official move of the COVID-19 ICU to the Liliendaal facility.
Meanwhile, she stated that 253 patients were treated at the COVID-19 ICU while it was at the GPHC, which covers the period from March to the end of November. She noted also noted that the transfer of the ICU operations to the Ocean View facility has been good so far as both patients and staff have settled in without complaint.
“I know initially it took some time for the staff to adjust and so on but in terms of functionality, I think the staff are generally happy for a designated space to manage the COVID patients,” she added.
Works are still ongoing at the facility.
