WEST Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH) has been beset by a number of challenges in past years and, consequently, Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) has been dealing with increased patient load.
In an invited comment on the situation, Health Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy told the Guyana Chronicle the WDRH is a priority for infrastructural development that will see the facility’s underutilised capacity put to use.
“We are doing our part to improve the physical and technological capacity,” he said.
According to him, a remaining major concern of his at the WDRH is its management.
“The Region must pay attention to the hospital. I remain unconvinced that the Regional Administration’s hand on management is evident at the WDRH,” Ramsammy said.
He said, because of this, his ministry’s Regional Health Services (RHS) has been forced to help from afar.
However, in a recent statement, the Region Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara) Administration indicated that rehabilitation of the WDRH has been on a continuous basis year after year.

Quoting the Acting Regional Executive Officer (REO), Mr. Paul Ramrattan, it said, late last year, the hospital benefited from a $43M project which entailed the complete rehabilitation of the in-patient surgical block that houses the Maternity Ward, two surgical theatres and the male and female surgical wards.
He added that that another $25M job is to be undertaken very shortly and would see the Male and Female Medical blocks completely rehabilitated and a further $9M spent, this year, on rehabilitating the Out-Patient/Accident and Emergency Department.
Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary in the Health Ministry, Mr. Hydar Ally said the ongoing works at WDRH are part of a maintenance programme to ensure that the institution cannot only take off strain from the GPH but assure delivery of quality services.
“We hope to see significant changes before the end of the year,” he said.
Ally said maintenance of WDRH will be continuous to address challenges with water supply, electricity and the environment and the Health Ministry is looking to secure additional financing for additional works there.
“We hope to improve the facility so that it is more patient-friendly,” he said.
The WDRH is also set to benefit from a three-year (2010-2012) plan, proposed in 2009, for its overall upgrade in a wider Health Sector Reform which focuses on high quality, consumer oriented services, accountability, transparency and equity in health care.