HEALTH care delivery at the Mabaruma Regional Hospital is expected to be bolstered soon as Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy made a commitment of support to the institution during a visit there last Wednesday.
Management officials of the Region One (Barima/Waini) facility voiced the need for an incinerator to dispose of waste in a more appropriate manner and furniture, as well as an oxygen generator since tanks of oxygen are transported via boats from Georgetown and sometimes do not reach the hospital on time.
Dr Ramsammy said: “The Mabaruma Hospital is an important centre for delivery of equitable health care to our people.”
He explained that the Ministry of Health will support the hospital to build the incinerator, an important need because the volume of bio-medical waste increases as the services increase. The Health Minister lauded the efforts made to date at the facility in the delivery of quality health care and noted that the staff is hard-working. “The staff is really working hard. We need to support them more and more,” he posited.
However, he acknowledged that transportation is a challenge for health workers to move around the region to reach the people and as such a motor cycle and pick-up-truck will be dispatched to the hospital.
Dr Ramsammy added that the Ministry of Health will also be supporting the hospital to create a more comfortable environment for those in waiting, especially  considering that they come from far-flung areas. “We are looking at providing recliners for the in-patient waiting area,” he said.
The Health Minister maintained that as the needs arise at, not only Mabaruma Regional Hospital, his ministry will try its utmost to meet those needs – all in the effort to improve the quality of health care delivery across Guyana.

Improved Delivery

In an invited comment, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the facility, Mr. Sewhanand Meusai, said the hospital will be delivering an improved quality of health care to the region. “It will greatly assist us and we are grateful to have the support of our leaders,” he said.
He noted that since the hospital opened its doors it has been offering an array of services that include: x-ray; low vision support, whereby patients are supported with spectacles at a subsidised cost; maternal and child health, visual inspection with ascetic acid to help combat cervical cancer; VCT as part of the HIV response; rehabilitation services; dental care; a malaria unit; and a fully operational operating theatre.
Meusai noted that through a public/ private partnership the capacity of the operation theatre is put to use.
Roving medical surgical teams visit the area from time to time with the aim of providing medical support in specialist areas. These surgeries included surgical correction of clubfoot, hernia repair, and hysterectomy and bone surgeries.
Last year some 84 surgeries were performed at the new $300M Mabaruma Hospital.
“The team is expected to come back soon,” Meusai said, adding that a new state of the art laboratory is expected to be built soon at the facility.
“There was a team from the central ministry here to advise on the layout of the lab…the site  has already been chosen. There is a building there right now that the lab will replace,” Meusai said.
He added investment into lab service will not only bolster the hospital’s capacity, but will also obviate the need for persons to go farther away for routine tests such as cholesterol level checks.
According to the CEO the hospital sees on average 150 persons on clinic days and more on Tuesdays since that is the region’s market day and persons use the same day to do as much as they can.
“We are making moves and with the support we can do much more…another important thing we need is additional staff. Right now we have nurses in training so we are a little understaffed and we need an OBGYN (Obstetrics and Gynaecology) specialist here….we can do more and we will,” Meusai said.
The health sector has been allocated some $14B in this year’s annual budget and the 2011 budgetary allocation is aimed at improving the quality of services provided, by continuing efforts to improve infrastructure, human resources, and the delivery of the publicly guaranteed health services package.
This year’s allocations translate to a US$95 per capita allocation in health and together with support form Global Fund and the United States’ President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) the investment is some US$100 per capita.
In 1991 the per capita investment was US$6.7 and last year the per capita investment in health for Region One was some $US106 ($21,126).