THE Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) will now benefit from provision of free distilled water, after a water treatment plant costing $35.5M was commissioned yesterday.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, Chief Executive Officer of the GPHC, Michael Khan, stated that staffers and patients at the GPHC will no longer have to purchase distilled water/drinking water, since commissioning of the water treatment plant means the free provision of drinking water for the entire staff of GPHC, and for the labs and the kitchen. He deemed this a massive benefit for the GPHC.

He said that instead of having to purchase 300 bottles of water a day, the health institution can now save that money and invest it into something else that can contribute to the development of the GPHC.

Khan said the water treatment equipment was properly tested for a week, and was also approved by the Government Analyst Food and Drug Department of Guyana.

He added that the cost for the water treatment plant was totalled at $35.5M, and includes the costs for acquiring and installing the equipment.

After the water treatment plant had been commissioned, officials of the GPHC used the opportunity to also commission the new bottom floor of the hospital, which houses 37 beds.

Khan noted that the 37 extra beds were once housed where the new Ebola Isolation area is located, but were removed to this new area and would be used as a resting area to accommodate an overflow of persons receiving medical attention in the Emergency Room at the hospital. Their function is to supplement the rooms normally used for resting emergency patients, located upstairs.