Hailed as the single largest investment in Guyana’s health sector, President Irfaan Ali yesterday turned the sod for Guyana’s first specialised Paediatric and Maternal Hospital and urged Guyanese health workers to remain here as no infrastructure is worthwhile without human resources.
With the construction of such a hospital, Ali said Guyana is on track to achieve its goal as a nation with world class health facilities with the highest standards.
“This will be a specialized hospital with these facilities alone, because women and children are a critical component of the development of our country. But more importantly, the standards we’re adopting here will position this hospital to be a traffic driver for regional services too, (people) in the Caribbean will have heard me saying that whatever we are developing is for regional prosperity,” Ali said during his speech.
The turn-key hospital, which is being financed by the United Kingdom’s export credit agency – UK Export Finance (UKEF), will be constructed by VAMED Engineering, an Austrian company which is a global provider for hospitals and other facilities in the healthcare sector. VAMED is partially owned by the Austrian government.
The hospital is being constructed at a cost of €149M ($32b) and will be constructed at Plots 7 and 8, Plantation Goedverwagting, East Coast Demerara. The low-rise facility will have 256 beds and will cover 24,000 square metres. Ali disclosed that this is the country’s first ever UKEF financed programme.
Speaking directly to health care professionals, he urged that they trust his government’s vision for the transformation of the sector. He vowed that local health care workers will have the “best total package for you to live a good and healthy life.”
“So let me say this, the men and women in the health care system you will be well taken care of in this system. Trust the vision. Hold on this vision. There is no need for you to go anywhere. We are going to deliver to you the best environment… ”, he assured.
The President stated that while it is easy to construct a facility such as the new hospital, the hard part is “making the system work and ensuring that the system work.” For this to happen, he pointed out there is great need for human resources.
Nonetheless, the President warned health care professionals of the need to keep operating to the highest standards.
He stated that those who erred will be held accountable. “You will be held to strict standards. You will be held for every single accountable action. You must deliver also to the best of our capability because we are not building the second best. We are building the best,” he posited.
The new facility will not only serve Region Four but will be a level five referral centre, “meaning women and children from all regions of Guyana will be referred here for specialized health care not available in their respective regions,” Dr Natasha France, Head of the Residency Programme and Obstetrics and Gynaecology, GPHC said.
The building will be a four-storey structure, which will comprise of in-patient and out-patient services, a paediatric section, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), obstetrics department, operating suite, maternal section, pharmacy, laboratory and administration offices.
The Paediatric and Maternal Hospital will serve as the national specialist referral hospital for children and would assist in the management of complicated paediatric, gynecology and obstetrics cases.
When completed in two years’ time, citizens will be able to benefit from state-of-the-art services dealing with the point of conception all the way to adolescents and will draw greater attention to the holistic approach with psycho-social support for children as well as their families during the treatment programmes.
In brief remarks, Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony said the sod turning ushers in a new era in public health investment in Guyana.
According to Anthony, even though monies have been spent over the years on upgrading and investing in existing health facilities across the country, there are “many things” that cannot be done at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
It is against this backdrop, he said they made a decision to develop a facility that is going to deliver level five services, which is the highest level in health care. The facility will also offer sub specialty care to children and at-risk mothers.
“With that concept in mind, we decided to have these engagements with VAMED. And we had protracted engagements trying to explain what it is that we are looking for and to make sure that whatever we are going to be building what meets the standards, global standards, but also allow us to transform transfer technology to us here in Guyana,” the Health Minister said.
He explained that while some of the services will mirror those of other public hospitals, the quality of service will be advanced with the type of clinics and the type of diagnostic tools used.
MRI
The hospital will be outfitted with a huge imaging suite that will not only have CT scans and X rays but also Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
“These used to be at one time very sophisticated pieces of equipment, but they have now become an essential part of making a diagnosis for our patients,” he said.
Coupled with the imaging suite, Anthony added that the hospital will be equipped with laboratory facilities that will be able to undertake the most sophisticated tests.
“And here again, there would be a modern lab that would have a comprehensive package of laboratory services that will be offered here. Apart from that we’ll have surgical suites…there will be a full cardiac suite in this hospital so we can do paediatric surgery in this facility,” he outlined.
Expanding, the minister stated that the hospital will also cater to expertise diagnosis and in some cases offer treatment options. The hospital will be equipped with specialty services in oncology, offering patients a wider array of advanced health services.
The President pointed out that the transformation of the healthcare sector is critical as the country embarks on a very bold pathway to national development.
He added that the new developments in the country are not a part of a stand-alone agenda but rather a larger vision which will see Guyanese having an improved quality of life.
The president also stated that negotiations for this project were undertaken in guidance with the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (Fédération Internationale des Ingénieurs-Conseils FIDIC) yellow book.
Dr Andreas Schmid, Austrian Trade Commissioner for Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana and the Caribbean stated that the hospital is an excellent example of a successful Government-to-Government project and one that they are delighted to explore also in other areas of bilateral cooperation.
“This important project in the health care sector is the outcome of a bilateral memorandum of understanding signed between the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and the Republic of Austria in 2018. It is a direct result of the fundamental need to attend to the growing population and “mother and child care”, a vision of his Excellency, President Ali,” he said.
Schmid added that with vast areas for investment here in the energy sector and in particular clean energy, such as hydro-power, as well as infrastructure, housing and green technologies, both countries can benefit from improved bilateral engagements.
“We are confident about the positive outlook for our bilateral trade relations and cooperation. Guyana is a high potential business partner for Austrian companies and I propose to organize a bilateral trade mission to Guyana in 2023,” he stated.
In January this year, Minister of Finance, Dr Ashni Singh had said that the hospital will be funded under the Health Ministry’s 2022 budget.
Singh had said that out of the $16.1 billion allocated to the ministry’s major expansion in public health care facilities project, $14.1 billion would be used in the design and construction of the hospital and the upgrading of the West Demerara and Bartica regional hospitals.
