More than ten months after the government announced preparations for the construction of the Enmore Regional Hospital, works are reportedly “advancing.”
“The construction of the Enmore Regional Hospital along the East Coast of Demerara, Region Four, is advancing, as the government continues to make significant progress in enhancing Guyana’s healthcare system.” The Department of Public Information (DPI) stated in a release.
This comes as the government in March 2023 had announced that works are currently ongoing for the construction of the Enmore Hospital. However, some ten months later, works are only in their foundational stage.
The Enmore Regional Hospital when completed, is expected to have a wide range of facilities, making it a tertiary care centre that will be equipped with a 24-hour Accident and Emergency department, a fully equipped laboratory, and advanced imaging services, DPI added
Additionally, the hospital will have both outpatient and inpatient facilities with comfortable accommodations for patients. It will be equipped with two modern operating theatres staffed with highly trained medical professionals, ensuring the highest level of care for patients.
In 2022, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, had announced during Budget Estimates, the construction of six modern regional hospitals which fell under the $73.2 billion budget allocated to the sector last year.
The areas and regions identified for the new hospitals are Anna Regina, Region Two; De Kinderen, Region Three; Diamond, Region Four; Enmore, Region Five; Bath, Region Six; and Number 75 Village, Corentyne, Region Six.
Each hospital will be 65,000 square feet and equipped with at least 75 beds.
“These regional hospitals are expected to catapult healthcare delivery beyond current levels provided by existing regional facilities as well as reduce the undue cost and burden of referrals to the Georgetown Public Hospital,” Singh had said.
Then in May of last year, President Irfaan Ali announced that the contract, part of a larger US$180 million initiative aimed at modernising six regional facilities, would be inked soon.
Following that, in July, the Minister responsible for Finance tabled two agreements in the National Assembly to cater for the construction. The first, the Export Finance Agreement (No. CIE/BC-DL/Guyana/0020014380) dated June 14, 2022 between the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and the United Kingdom Export Finance, totalling €161,016,949, allows for the financing, design, and construction of a state-of-the-art paediatric and maternal hospital at Ogle, as well as the delivery of medical equipment to the institution.
That hospital will be constructed by VAMED, an Austria-based company which is a global provider for hospitals and other facilities in the healthcare sector. The facility will cost €149 million and will be constructed at plots 7 and 8, Plantation Goedverwagting, East Coast Demerara. The low-rise facility will have 256 beds
The other, the Deferred Payment Agreement, Lot One (1) to Lot Six (6), dated July 12, 2022, between the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and the China CAMC Engineering Company Limited for a total amount of €136,132,800, is for the financing of Government’s Regional Hospitals Project. Under the Regional Hospitals Project, six hospitals will be constructed in five regions: one in Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam); one at De Kinderen, Region Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara); one at Diamond and another at Enmore, in Region Four (Demerara/Mahaica); one in Bath, Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice); and one in Number 75 Village, Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne). Each modern hospital is slated to be equipped with 75 beds.
That signing took place in August 2022 with China’s Sinopharm International.
