.jpg)
AS the new state-of-the-art $1.8B Linden Hospital Complex in Region Ten (Upper Demerara/Berbice) was officially opened yesterday, President Bharrat Jagdeo reiterated his government’s commitment towards the development of the community.
 President Bharrat Jagdeo addresses the commissioning ceremony. |
|
The facility located near to the old MacKenzie Hospital Complex in Watooka, has been constructed with funding from the Health Sector Programme (HSP), a five year US$25.5M funding programme co-financed by the Government of Guyana and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as the administration continues to make important advances in the rebuilding of physical infrastructure in the health sector.
President Jagdeo, delivering the feature address, alluded to the importance of the facility, and said, “What you see here happening in Linden, the construction and commissioning of this hospital, is just part of a comprehensive plan that we have for the development of our country and all of its sectors.”
Outlining some of the challenges in conceptualising the national plan and its implementation, he said, “I wish to do so largely because if you are aware of where we want to take the country in the long term, then people can see themselves as part of this important development for the future”.
He alluded to the global economic crisis which has wiped out trillions of dollars of wealth across the globe, with millions of people losing their jobs and homes.
President Jagdeo said in a regional context, it has taken a devastating toll on the economies of countries in CARICOM, with Jamaica whose bauxite industry contributes to more than 50 per cent of its total merchandise export losing three of its four bauxite operations, and tourism arrivals across the region falling by some 20 per cent.
He observed that many of these countries also have a huge debt profile stating, “In Guyana’s case, we have the largest public sector budget ever in our history this year, 2009, and that trend is expected to continue”.
“We have a significant part of our budget, although we are approaching year-end, yet to be spent, so I have been putting significant pressure on some of my ministers and their ministries to spend the money in the budgets,” he disclosed.
He pointed out that the health sector budget has grown from $750M in 1992 to $12B today, and the country has managed to bring its debt to a sustainable level using just over 4 percent of revenue to service debt from 94 per cent of revenue when the administration took office.
He said the government has paid back over US$1.5B, insisting, “That is the kind of thing that has created the fiscal space in our country to increase spending.”
He said at the regional level, as Chairman of the economic task force for CARICOM, he is trying to create a model with the support of his colleagues that would see those countries also getting some assistance on their debt.
“Without that, most CARICOM countries will not have a viable medium term strategy,” the Head of State reiterated.
He said in the health sector, the government’s spending has grown from about US$7 per capita to US$80, which signifies a huge shift and continues to make other significant investments in the heath sector such as construction of new hospitals during the past five to six years.
He noted that five of those facilities were constructed with funds coming from the country’s budget and not loans or grants from abroad, which is a major difference compared to the past.
“We recognise, too, that the spending would be inadequate if we just build buildings and this is why we have a very ambitious programme for the staffing of these facilities,” he noted.
He said between 2009 and 2012, in excess of 400 Guyanese doctors will be added to the public health system in addition to a number of nurses and medex being trained.
“We have listed some qualitative outputs that we want from the health sector and we have argued that our health delivery system and health care system must first of all be people centred – there must be equity and accountability in the delivery of health care,” he said.
He insisted that every health institution in this country must account for its service and how it deploys the resources given and how it is meeting some pre-agreed indicators of good quality service.
The President exhorted, “I am disappointed that we still do not have this system in place because it is absolutely necessary, and I made it clear that the Chief Executive Officers of these institutions will keep or lose their jobs depending on how they perform in these areas.”
“We are solving the question of access through the building of more facilities and better facilities right across our country, but it is not just quantitative access, it is also qualitative access, and I want you to work with us in these areas,” he charged.
The Head of State observed that already, the benefits of increased spending in these areas are being seen with life expectancy rate going up and infant mortality rate decreasing.
He said the campaign needs to be extended and to this end disclosed that a special communiqué was issued at the recent Commonwealth Heads of State meeting of the intention to host a summit on non-communicable diseases.
“Many times people think this is for the government and the hospitals to deal with. This is a lifestyle kind of disease, it needs more public education and I hope that the communities themselves and everyone will get involved. That is the only way we will turn the corner in these areas,” he urged.
“I want to promise you that we will continue to focus on these things because they are important for the future, and that Linden and Region Ten hold a very special place in the development of our country,” he told the gathering.
“We have had difficulties here and one of the casualties of the investment programme has been the alumina plant. We just signed up a US$1B deal, the largest single investment in the history of our country with a Chinese company to build a alumina plant here that would have created thousands of jobs and then the global financial crisis hit and we lost quite a few of these investments. As the crisis abates we have to return to this,” he said.
He said with the recent opening of the Takutu River Bridge, through discussions with Brazil’s President and several others from the State of Roraima and Amazonus, they are working towards creating a new growth pole.
Alluding to the government’s commitment to the Linden community, he said these include investment in the education sector and some $2B per year in subsidising electricity to the community.
He said investment in the housing sector and development of Information Communication Technology (ICT) related investments are all part of the plan for these areas particularly the community.
He emphasised that Regions One, Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten per capita expenditure and growth in expenditure far exceeds the other regions.
President Jagdeo said budgetary allocations should go where there is greatest need and that is the principle his government uses to allocate money in the country.
“What we are doing here is important for our people in Linden and the neighbouring areas because this hospital is going to serve a wider area and would be important as we develop our relationship with Brazil…I am committed to its success as we are committed to the constant improvement of this community,” he concluded.
IDB Resident Representative, Mr. Marco Nicola, said as the Bank celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, it is honoured to share this historic moment with the people of Linden.
“The IDB has a longstanding working relationship with Guyana in the health sector and the records would show that the IDB funded its first health care project since 1978,” he reminded.
He noted that since then, the Bank continues to be a major partner for the sector in Guyana and only recently, the government and the Bank successfully negotiated a US$5M loan for the expansion of the Basic Nutrition Programme which continues to support the Government in implementing the core component of the National Nutrition Strategy.
He said the construction of the state-of-the-art Linden Hospital facility is one of the key investment activities under the Health Sector Reform Project, which is set within the framework of the National Health Plan which is an essential aspect of the 2001-2010 National Development Strategy.
He reminded that the overall objective of the project is to improve effectiveness, quality and equity in the access to health services in Guyana by primarily improving the organisational and institutional capacity of the health sector through information technology, human resource development and strengthening of the pharmaceuticals delivery system; and improving the overall health services delivery system of the country.
The IDB Representative said under this latter objective, activities include the upgrading of the entire Linden Hospital Complex and the ongoing reconstruction of the In-patient Facility of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
He insisted that the Linden Hospital Complex represents a major accomplishment of this goal, not only improving the lives of the people of Region Ten, but also the lives of people living in interior locations which will now save time and money to reach health care services.
He said the construction of the Linden hospital complex was completed in September 2009 and now offers services which include radiology, optometry and gynaecology.
Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, recalled that many years ago, when the administration assumed office, it recognised that the infrastructure of Guyana, not just the health sector, needed urgent attention.
“The health sector infrastructure was in total disrepair,” he observed and noted that over the years, the administration has almost entirely rebuilt and reconstructed the physical infrastructure of the health sector with brand new hospitals in Mabaruma, Suddie, Leonora, Diamond, Mahaicony, New Amsterdam, Kamarang and Lethem.
“This has been a massive investment programme for the Government,” he noted and remarked that the investment has not only been in the infrastructure.
Alluding to the tremendous investment in the region, he revealed that the per capita investment for health in the region for 2008 was US$79.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the facility, Mr. Gordon Gumbs, noted that it is a historic occasion for the Linden Hospital, and expressed gratitude to the Government of Guyana for the decision to build the new hospital there.
“We are quite happy now with our new facilities and believe that these new changes offer a better opportunity for our services to the public to be improved,” he stated.
He disclosed that over the last eight months, an additional seven doctors were added to the staff complementing the work of the others, including some 128 nurses.
A plaque was also presented to the contractor Mr. Roy Bassoo, Managing Director of R. Bassoo and Sons Construction Company and among those present were Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, government officials, and regional representatives.
Scenes at yesterday’s commissioning of the Linden Hospital
|
|
||||||||
|
|
