The Sheriff Group of Companies will soon commence construction of a Specialty Hospital at Palmyra, Region Six – an investment which after completion will open up 400 jobs to Berbicians.
Ameir Ahmad, one of the directors of the company, last week told the Sunday Stabroek that they have acquired some 15 acres of land at the Palmyra location which is currently being surveyed as construction is expected to begin sometime next month.
This is the latest investment by the group. A general hospital at Leonora on the West Coast of Demerara is nearing completion and preparatory works have already begun for a major facility at Houston on the East Bank Demerara.
Ahmad said the specialty hospital will be a three-storey structure with a total of 150 rooms –which is expected to drastically improve the delivery of health care in the Berbice area.
Accommodation for doctors and certain sections of staff will also be built at the location.
According to him, the infrastructure itself is expected to cost the company around $5b, while the equipment is estimated to cost between $10 – $15b.
According to Ahmad, they are pushing to have the hospital completed in about a year and a half, and once that is done employment will be offered to some 400 persons.
He explained that they are looking to hire doctors and nurses as well as management and maintenance staff from the Berbice area in keeping with President Irfaan Ali’s vision to develop the area and offer employment to locals.
In October, 2022, President Ali had detailed the massive development slated for Palmyra, on the East Berbice which includes the building of a new International Cricket Council-standard stadium. At that time, he had said that they had already approved private sector investment for a new state-of-the-art mall, a new hotel, a recreational centre, a hospital, a centre for persons with disabilities and a call centre.
Ahmad stressed, that one of their main priorities is to ensure that the costs of services offered are affordable to those in need as he noted that programmes will be put in place to possibly subsidize emergency surgeries in the event that persons cannot afford them.
He pointed out that while the structure and equipment will be high-end, offering the best possible health care to Berbicians, the company will also be ensuring that they are offering services at a low cost, “We are trying to keep health care at a low cost as possible… So that everyone can afford it.”
He added, “We want to tell Berbicians to expect a modern facility at low cost. We want to service the entire Berbice, with the best medical services at a low price.”
Some of the services that the specialty hospital will offer include heart surgery, eye surgery, and plastic surgery as the company is ensuring that the hospital is somewhat of a one-stop shop for health and body care – a first of its kind in Berbice.
He added, that they are excited to start the project and will be working to push it to completion as early as possible as they are very much aware of the need for such a hospital in the county.
The company’s Leonora hospital in Region Three is expected to open sometime at the end of the month, while construction of their four-storey Houston location which commenced back in September 2022 is continuing.
The group also has a medical facility on Sheriff Street, Subryanville.
