– President highlights future advances with new tertiary care institution
– Ramsammy says another step taken towards a new health sector
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday commissioned the $1.2B in-patient facility at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), New Market Street,  and made it clear that the advances in  the health sector will continue, pointing   to the recent agreement made with India to establish a new facility at Liliendaal, where Guyanese will be able to access quality tertiary health care services at a fraction of the cost. Jagdeo said, “Just two days ago we received confirmation from the Indian Government that they have approved the soft loan to fund the new hospital…obviously we need to do more. The Guyanese people have a strong commitment from the government which will be dedicated to this sector to ensure that we have the best quality care.”
He said the construction of the specialty facility is expected to begin by the first quarter of 2012.
The Indian Government was approached sometime ago when it was agreed that a line of credit will be used for the construction of the hospital. It is expected that a partner from India will be chosen to manage the facility until such time that locals can take over.
The establishment is expected to provide any surgery which Guyanese would normally travel to North America and other countries for, at a fraction of the cost, while at the same time not compromising quality. It is expected that the speciality hospital will be providing services including cardio-related and cosmetic surgeries, and organ transplants.
According to the president, as Guyana progresses economically, increasing amounts of resources will be allocated to the health sector.
“It is not only about resources, but polices and what happens in the agencies themselves,” he said.
The Head of State maintained that the health sector has seen tremendous change in the delivery and quality of health care, and attributed the success to the leadership of Health Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy and other administrators and staff in the sector.

PHENOMENAL CHANGE
“The growth in the services, you will see, is nothing short of phenomenal…I am pleased at the progress at the Georgetown Public Hospital and in the health sector in general,” Jagdeo said.
On that note, he called for maximum value for money, greater accountability for the level of services provided, and a sector that is patient friendly.
“We have much work to do,” the president said.
Health Minster, Leslie Ramsammy echoed these sentiments, adding that the sector has witnessed massive transformation from the “decrepit and rotten” state it was in – a state where the needs of the Guyanese people were not served.
He said that looking back, not to place blame, but to remember where the health sector was and where it is now, the Guyanese people have much to be proud of.
“We have not reached where we want to be, but I can stand here with pride at how far we have come,” Ramsammy said.
He stressed that the transformations have not occurred overnight; rather they are the result of consistent commitment to improving the sector.

FALLEN LEADER
The Health Minster noted that in the 1960s Guyana led the Caribbean in health care, but suffered massive regression in the 1980s, when allocations to the sector was  a mere one per cent of the national budget.
In the 2011 National Budget, the GPHC allocations was some US$20.5M, out of a total allocation of some $14B.
According to him, the modernisation drive to return the health sector to a place where it could provide quality health care services to the Guyanese people began in 1964, with the commissioning of an ambulatory building.
Lauding the new in-patient facility as another milestone in the overall modernisation drive, Ramsammy pointed to the establishment of the Caribbean Heart Institute (CHI), the OBGYN and the rehabilitated Medicine wards, as well as developments with the health information systems and human resource capacity building, among many other advances.
He maintained that the advance of the health sector is premised on the acceptance that health is an  important element in general development.

NEW SECTOR
Ramsammy stated that the commissioning of the new in-patient facility is another step in the overall implementation of a new health sector in Guyana.
“The building is a sign of what we see the physical infrastructure to be in the future,” he said.
According to him, the public health sector provides services to Guyanese people at their most vulnerable moments.
He observed that restricted services will be the downfall of any health sector, which, in that way, will be unable to fulfill its mandate.
The infrastructural upgrade is in keeping with GPHC’s master plan and the national development strategy to improve the quality and efficacy of health care services.
GPHC’s Director of Medical Services, Dr. Sheik Amir, added his bit and pointed out that the transformation will continue as the health sector is poised to propel its advance.
The hospital’s Chief Executive Officer, Michael Khan, stated that the new facility will accommodate 202 beds in the male and female medical and surgical wards, as well as a physiotherapy department. Other features of the new facility include intercom, alert systems for patients to contact the nurses’ station, and a prayer room for relatives.
Khan stated that the challenges are now inconsequential, considering the massive improvement in the delivery and quality of health care services.
He also observed that the physical infrastructural advance must match the technological advance.
Conceptualised in 2004, construction on the facility was started in 2007, and despite interruptions in the construction schedule, has been completed by the contractor, R. Basso Contracting Firm.
Others attending the commissioning ceremony were Culture, Youth and Sport Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony; GPHC board members, representative from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and members of international organizations, as well as health sector staffers.