Preparatory works have commenced at the sites where two new state-of-the-art hospitals will be built in Region Six, as the government moves to improve the delivery of healthcare.
One of the new hospitals will be located in Fort Canje next to the Canje Bridge and a short distance away from the current New Amsterdam Hospital, while the second will be located at Number 75 Village, Corentyne.
According to Regional Chairman David Armogan, a major three-storey hospital will be built at the Fort Canje location, in line with “first world standards.” At present, he said, the area is being cleared and prepared for the commencement of construction; “very shortly you will see major works starting there.
“They will probably do things like open heart surgeries. They will do kidney transplants, and some of the major operations that we don’t currently do in Guyana right now, or some of which are being done at [Georgetown Public Hospital] GPH. A lot of those services will also be done right here in New Amsterdam when that hospital is completed.”
Touching on the present New Amsterdam Hospital, Armogan said staff there are currently working to clear the surgical backlog which has built up since COVID-19.
He disclosed that for the first time at any hospital in the region, there is an echocardiogram service at the New Amsterdam Hospital with a cardiologist at the location. “People who would have to pay huge sums of money to get their echocardiogram… , they can now have that done free of charge at the New Amsterdam Hospital,” he said.
Touching on the Number 75 Village, Corentyne location, Armogan said that preparatory works have started there as well. “Once that hospital comes on stream then it will serve the entire Skeldon area as well because there have been a lot of complaints coming from Skeldon Hospital from people within that area,” he said.
According to the Chairman, while these works have commenced, they are also working to improve the standards of the Skeldon Hospital and other health facilities in the region so as to ensure a high level of healthcare is being offered to the residents of Region Six.
In terms of Skeldon, Armogan stressed that one of the things that have to be looked at is the way in which the services are being delivered. “Even while the government is spending huge sums of money in the provision of more and more services, the people who are delivering these services also have to be compliant and improve the delivery of service to the clients, which are the patients, and that is what we have to work on. We have to work on the delivery of service because for every dollar the government is spending the government expects the quality of service to people will be better and so we are working towards that,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Chairman also divulged that there has been an extension of dental services to several health centres in the region. The health centres at Brothers (East Bank Berbice), Number 64 Village (Corentyne), Yakusari (Black Bush Polder), Orealla, Eversham (Corentyne), and Cumberland (East Canje Berbice), are for the first time, offering dental services.
Also, new health centres are also being built in New Area, Canefield; East Canje, Berbice; and Mara, Upper East Bank Berbice. According to Armogan, the Mara location is about 70 per cent completed.
As a result of the pharmacy assistants training programme, Armogan said, all of the health centers are currently equipped with pharmacy assistants.
Meanwhile, digital x-rays are being done at the Mibicuri, Skeldon, and New Amsterdam hospitals. And regarding the Mibicuri Hospital, Armogan, said major infrastructure works are being carried out to upgrade certain services and facilities.
Additionally, several outreaches have been planned for far flung areas with the extending of home-based care which allows doctors to visit patients at their homes. The Regional Chairman added that anyone who wishes to have their names or their relatives’ names added to the list should contact the Regional Health Services. (Bebi Oosman)
