President Irfaan Ali on Friday turned the sod for the construction of a $2 billion multi-speciality hospital at Suddie, in Region Two.
Construction of the facility, which will have 250 beds, an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and modern laboratories, is due to begin in weeks and it is due for completion in 2023.
Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony, who was present, said the hospital is being funded by a soft loan from the EXIM Bank of India.
“It took a lot of work to start getting these projects moving. And within a very, very short period of time, we have been able to meet all the benchmarks that were set by EXIM Bank of India, and other partners to be able to get to this point,” he said.
Anthony also mentioned that a team came from India about three weeks ago and visited multiple sites for hospitals.
Regional Health Officer Dr. Ranjeev Singh welcomed the project and said that Region Two has been in need of it for years.
Meanwhile, during the simple sod-turning ceremony, Ali said that the facility is a part of the national architecture of the modernisation of the healthcare system, which he noted begins with the provision of health education and training.
He also said that government is also willing to support private health care through stronger partnerships as he noted that Guyana is aiming to become a health care destination. On the latter point he said only recently the Ministry of Health met with a high-level team to draft plans in this regard.
Ali also used the occasion to mention plans for the development of a “one-card” system where the medical history of persons seeking medical care could be retrieved at any hospital across the country.
“This is the type of innovation and modernisation that the Government of Guyana is aiming towards,” Ali said, while also noting plans for the establishment of a Children’s and Maternity Hospital as well as a cancer research treatment hub.
Meanwhile, Ali said he said he heard that Region Two has a shortage of nurses, midwives, and doctors, and so he immediately gave approval for 35 persons who had applied to be midwives or nurses and had met the necessary criteria to start receiving training.
Additionally, he said five doctors will be sent to Region Two to assist at the Suddie and Oscar Joseph hospitals.
Anthony added that despite the challenges of the pandemic his ministry is working diligently to ensure that regional hospitals throughout Guyana are upgraded and maintained.
