Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, yesterday attended the ribbon cutting for the Olmac Medical Hub in Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara, Region Three.
This privately owned facility will offer dialysis treatments, urgent care, podiatry, radiology, and dental care among other services, a release from the Ministry of Health said.
These services will be available Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. This facility is modelled after the Brookdale Hospital Medical Centre in Brooklyn, NY.
Anthony stated that investments like these could bring back talented individuals to Guyana, not just to deliver healthcare but also to share their knowledge in medical education.
“But I think with these types of investments, we are now changing what was a brain drain to a brain gain, where persons are coming back not only offering good quality health care but also would be involved in teaching which I think is very fundamental, because we need excellent clinical mentors to help our doctors and nurses so that we can lift the quality of care that were offering to patients,” he said.
Meanwhile, the founder of Olmac Medical Hub, Philip McPherson expressed his heartfelt appreciation to Anthony for making the investment possible in Guyana. He stated that the motivation behind this endeavour stemmed from recognizing the significant lack of dialysis care and treatment in the country, driven by a commitment to providing the best possible care to dialysis patients in Guyana. He expressed gratitude to his friends and family for their support in acquiring the necessary equipment and establishing the centre.
McPherson announced that the centre, when construction first began in January 2022, was initially named Olmac Urgent Medical Care Guyana, but now it would be renamed the Vibert Amsterdam Memorial Dialysis Centre in honour of the first patient who was scheduled for treatment, and unfortunately passed away in April 2024, along with McPherson’s parents.
