The portion of the East Bank highway that accommodates the village of Grove ranks among the busiest stretches of the corridor. As a whole, Grove, historically, has always been a residential stretch, accommodating, over the years, a mix of family homes and an assortment of services associated with the needs of the community. These days, be told, Grove has still retained some of its homestead characteristics, never mind the fact that successive makeovers have transformed the community considerably. The homes of decades ago, at least some of them, have been transformed beyond recognition, some of them having undergone transformations that have to do with replacing modest houses with places of business. Grove, today, is experiencing changes that are not uncommon in other communities across coastal Guyana.
The transformations notwithstanding, one would not have thought that what is usually thought of as an ordinary village along the East Bank Highway would have, in a particular sense, transformed itself in a manner that is compellingly attention-getting. Many moons ago, 66 Public Road, East Bank Guyana, used to be the humble abode of the George family, parents and siblings. The Georges, one feels, cultivated exalted ambitions within their own humble home. This much is reflected in the fact that these days, the George siblings have, over time, upgraded the family’s ambitions to a point where they appear to be well be on the way to making a noteworthy contribution to the growth and development of, not just the well-being of Grove and nearby communities, but the country’s health sector, as a whole. Their accomplishment could hardly have been more impactful. 66 Grove Public Road, the plot of land that now accommodates the Grove Dialysis and Kidney Center sits on the spot that once accommodated the Georges’ family home.
Institutions charged with the practice of healing are usually associated with tranquility and a shutting out of unhelpful external influences. Unquestionably, the singularly noteworthy feature of the Grove Dialysis Kidney Center reposes in the fact that its proximity to the hustle and bustle of the East Bank carriageway, notwithstanding, the owners have managed to ‘shut out’ the external distractions that includes that stretch of the East Bank Highway that ‘plunges through’ Grove. Once you enter the facility and encounter its serenity and its strict sanitation protocols you enter an adjoining area which, by its ‘feel’ one hardly associates with a facility dispensing what, in many instances, are ‘life-saving’ equipment. It is relaxed, ‘friendly’, devoid of what Guyanese frequently describe as hospital ‘jitters.’ Outside of the facility’s uncompromising sanitation protocols, one feels a sense of friendliness rather than what, all too frequently, are the anxieties associated with institutions that provide medical care locally.
When the Stabroek Business visited the Grove Dialysis Kidney Center exactly a week ago, Fitz George, who holds the position of Proprietor and CEO and his sister, Marilyn Nedd, a retired Public Servant and the institution’s Chief Executive Officer, threw open the proverbial ‘doors’ with a measure of confidence that is not always ‘on show’ at local health care institutions.
To the Stabroek Business’ surprise we were allowed limited interaction with the handful of patients who, even as we engaged them, were in the process of being treated, The ‘patients’ (if one can so describe them given the complete absence of uneasiness or discomfort usually associated with medical treatment) were relaxed, seemingly keen to engage visitors.
Some of them were visitors to Guyana, ‘back home’ to re-engage with relatives and friends. But for the availability of the machine that removes blood from the body, filters it through a dialyzer (artificial kidney) and returns the cleaned blood to your body, these visitors to Guyana might otherwise have to forego the opportunity to visit relatives in Guyana. The Grove Dialysis and Kidney Center says in its Mission Statement that it exists “to provide quality life-saving and/or life-enhancing kidney care services.” Its Principal Members (Board of Directors) comprises Mr. George, who is titled Proprietor and CEO and his two sisters, Paulette George-Mercurius who is titled Proprietor and CFO, Marilyn Nedd, Secretary and Karen George RN, Chief Medical Officer.
The family’s commitment to the facility is reflected in the fact the initial investment in the acquisition of the dialysis machine, the ‘buildout’ of the complex in which the facility is housed and the acquisition of furniture and office equipment was financed by family members from their personal savings. In the course of his encounter with the Stabroek Business, George paid tribute to the various state agencies that had been instrumental in ensuring that the process of establishing the facility was without bureaucratic challenges. Contextually, he named the Guyana Revenue Authority, the Government Analyst Food & Drugs Department and the Ministry of Health as providing significant support in “navigating some of the bureaucratic hurdles” associated with the process.
