PUBLIC Health Minister, Dr. George Norton says that the extension of the Maternity Ward at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) is moving apace and will be providing improved services for mothers and their newborns. The Public Health Minister in a recent interview with Guyana Chronicle expressed his dissatisfaction over recent issues faced by mothers and their newborns.
This expansion, he said, is a great necessity since the sharing of a bed by two mothers must be “something of the past” and the situation would be improved once this expansion continues to “move apace”.
$235.9M PROJECT BUDGET
The budget for this project stands at $235.9M and was approved in early January this year. The extension is expected to see 40 additional beds, offices, a neonatal clinic, ‘doctor-on-call’ rooms, two operating theatres, a birthing room, and a remodeled ground floor with training rooms as well as a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit on the top floor.
Speaking with this publication yesterday, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Michael Khan of the GPHC said that so far works on the expansion of the ward are ongoing quite well and it is expected to meet its deadline in February 2016 once the weather permits.
GPHC is regarded as the national referral hospital where it caters for high-risk pregnancies among other emergency cases. The hospital delivers approximately 60 percent of the babies born in Guyana each year.
Last year the hospital recorded its highest birth rate with a figure of 6,085, and the services of this institution is always in demand by an abundance of patients.
In light of this, Minister Norton has noted that once the revival of health centres across Guyana is realised, it will ideally aid in reducing the traffic of patients at the GPHC as they can then refer to other health centres/hospitals.
In reference to the completion of the Maternity Ward project, the Minister noted that GPHC will be able to cater for the needs of referred patients as they will be provided with better and improved services.
Many have shared their experience at the GPHC and highlighted the issue of the lack of equipment and tools.
In addressing this matter, Dr. Norton said that he aims to have a one-on-one sit-down session with every specialist in the Maternity Ward and the hospital as a whole to garner their inputs on a range of issues. (Shivanie Sugrim)