Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony announced on Sunday that a contract has been inked for a new hospital to be built in New Amsterdam which will also be equipped with a training centre and a section for psychiatric patients which will result in the eventual closing of the National Psychiatric Hospital.
In an address to a neonatal conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, he said that the new New Amsterdam Hospital will have approximately 220 beds, five operating theatres, and a cardiac suite along with a section for training and another section for psychiatric patients.
“So there is a two-storey building that has been set aside for training, and that will include both doctors, nurses, and health workers”, Anthony stated.
The section for psychiatric patients will have 120 beds, as according to Anthony based on legislation passed last year, “we no longer want to keep psychiatric patients for long periods in institutions.”
He said, that the way forward will be when those patients have an episode, treatment is offered and after it is finished they will be allowed to go home.
Given this new development, Anthony said that over time the present psychiatric hospital will be closed noting that some of the facilities at that location were built around 1969.
“I think with modern psychiatry we need to close those facilities, for those patients who don’t have anywhere to go we will have to find a halfway home for them and that’s something we are looking at right now”, he stated.
Meanwhile, Anthony said that while investments are being made to develop the sector they are facing a challenge in keeping nurses in the system.
“This has affected us in the quality of service that we can deliver and that is something that we have to keep paying attention to and try to make sure that we are addressing this problem”, he stated.
As such, earlier this year he said that they increased salaries for all the clinical staff working in the Ministry of Health, “Salaries now for anybody coming with some clinical skills, starting from a community health worker, their salaries start at $100,000, and you have different categories.”
For doctors starting salaries are at $460,000, he noted. “We have made an attempt to improve salaries and hopefully that will create more retention.”
Additionally, Anthony said that they have created new pathways for persons to pursue their medical careers at various levels in Guyana.
