MINISTER of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran, has suggested that A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) should take a page out of People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Central Executive Member Dr. Faith Harding’s book in her recent support for the Specialty Hospital project.

In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, he said the specialty hospital is geared not only to boost the health sector, but other sectors, such as tourism, as well.
Ramsaran said that when tourists do research on Guyana and they see that there is a specialty hospital, they will feel more confident to visit this country.
The minister said cutting the 2013 National Budget was “very silly and stupid.”
“Why would you want to cut something so good and that will bring in foreign exchange for the country?” he asked, remarking that APNU often times looks at the messenger and does not focus on the message.
APNU is a major part of the Parliamentary Opposition which slashed $2.25 billion from the provision for construction of the health facility.
Ramsaran declared: “It’s such a shame the Opposition decided to cut the budget for the hospital, since health tourism in Guyana is necessary to propel the country into the 21st century.”
Dr. Harding had said recently that she is proud of then President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo for his insight, and was especially heartened when he inked the deal for the hospital with the Indian Government back in 2009.
The hospital is to provide top class medical services to both Guyanese and tourists who may be in need. It is to have at least 100 beds, state-of-the-art equipment, and a team of highly trained nurses and doctors.
Dr. Harding, in an interview with this newspaper last week, declared her support for the construction of a Specialty Hospital in Guyana. She also took the Opposition to task for moving to cut the budgeted $2.25B from this year’s national budget for the construction of the facility.
Dr. Harding, who was one of the candidates running for the presidential candidacy of the People’s National Congress Reform ahead of the 2011 general and regional elections, said “it is a shame” the Opposition decided to cut the budget for the hospital, since health tourism in Guyana is a necessity in propelling the country into the 21st century.
“Modernising and improving health services, upgrading specialist skills, uplifting confidence in the population, bringing about resourcefulness, and boosting the economy”, she identified as among the benefits of such a project.
Dr Harding said that while in the United States recently, she met with doctors from a children’s hospital who promulgated the idea, and highlighted that Guyana has the ideal natural environment to aid recovery of patients. She also highlighted the transfer of technical skills to Guyanese as another benefit of the facility.
Dr Harding’s comment came less than a day after the Government of Jamaica announced it was moving to construct a US$200M Specialty Hospital with the aim of tapping into the medical tourism sector. Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller’s Cabinet approved the project, and the facility will be constructed in the western parish of St. James.
Jamaica’s Minister of Health, Dr. Fenton Ferguson, said construction of the facility represents the first formal health tourism project for Jamaica.
It will be spearheaded by members of the diaspora, through an established partnership with the Government of Jamaica.
Ferguson said Jamaica represents the best possibilities and opportunities for health tourism, not just based on geographical location and the strength of the tourism product, but also the improved road network, characterised by modern highways and first class airports.