Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony says that he is confident that the Diamond Hospital which is being converted into a Smart Hospital will be handed over by the end of the month.
The minister made these remarks during a recent COVID-19 update where he stated that the contractors responsible for the retrofitting of the facility initially had one year to complete the project but predicted that they would be able to hand over by last December before the timeline on the contract, however, they were unable to do so.
“They have worked very quickly and they have done very good work and they were telling us that they could have handed over by December, unfortunately because of some of the items they require to bring from overseas, those were delayed,” Anthony explained.
He noted that even with the small delay, his expectations are that they will be able to have a handing over of the facility by the end of January and subsequently return the hospital to full operation.
Giving an update on what is left to be done at the facility, he noted, “Most of the internal works inside of the building itself they have completed those and there are bits of external work that they have to do and I’m very confident by the end of the month that we will be able to get it back.”
Meanwhile concerning the Leonora Cottage Hospital which is also expected to be converted to a Smart Hospital, he stated that the contractors for that project have had some challenges with the rainy season and had rescheduled the way in which the work will be done. However, services are still continuing at the facility.
“But nevertheless… things are progressing, services at the Leonora facility continues at the site and at some point when we have to do more of the internal works, we will have to deploy some of these services to the nearby community” he said.
He also mentioned that when full construction commences, services will not be disrupted as it will just be moved to other areas so that there can still be access to health services.
In relation to the other hospitals that are expected to be converted as well, he stated that the contract for the Mabaruma facility has been issued, however the contractor has not started any works yet. With regard to the facility at Paramakatoi, that will be done in collaboration with the Guyana Defence Force and is expected to commence this year.
“So when we complete these facilities they are going to be more efficient in terms of energy, utilization of water and a whole host of other things,” the Health Minister assured.
