Patients of the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) who require the service of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine continue to face financial pressure and Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony says that the recommendation from an ongoing Strategic Plan at the facility will determine whether one will be sourced.
There has never been a MRI machine at the GPH, the country’s premier state medical facility.
Patients who require the service are usually referred to a private hospital at their expense. The estimated cost for a MRI scan is $60,000.
A state-of-the-art MRI machine costs between US$1 million and US$3 million.
Asked whether the Government is considering acquiring a MRI machine, Anthony last week told Stabroek News that a Strategic Plan is currently being developed by the GPH.
He said that is expected to be completed within the next two months and based on the recommendations, it would be determined whether the equipment would be sourced.
The Strategic Plan, Anthony said, includes the hospital’s infrastructure and equipment as well as its types of services.
“What Georgetown Hospital is currently doing, they are developing a strategic plan…..Once that is completed that could be the guidelines that we will use moving forward with the kinds of equipment and services that we should provide,” Anthony told Stabroek News on the sidelines of a discussion on a new public health act.
“Let us see what are the recommendations from that strategic plan and then we will decide,” Anthony added.
The minister noted that imaging is one of the areas which is being looked at by the Ministry.
In January this year, the Ministry of Health unveiled three new x-ray machines valued approximately $113 million at the GPH. “So that kind of trend is what we want,” Anthony said.
Three Fridays ago, the Government through partnership with the Mount Sinai Health System and oil company, Hess Corporation announced major plans to transform national healthcare, including the overhaul of both the public and private health systems, and the setting up of oncology and cardiovascular centres of excellence.
The initiative will be funded by the Government and Hess Corporation, with the Stabroek Block partner investing close to US$32 million.
Days after, a team visited GPH. It is unclear whether the absence of the MRI machine was raised with it.
