Work on the extension of the Maternity Ward at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) is expected to be completed in the next five months.This is according to Public Health Minister Dr. George Norton in an invited comment to media operatives yesterday.

“In the next five months,” he said, “the extension of the ward should be completed.” Dr Norton added that the setback is mainly because of the construction of the inner part of the ward, which will cater for a plethora of rooms and units.

One of the major issues patients are faced with at the current maternity ward is the shortage of beds. And for this reason, the extended ward will cater for 50 beds, to ensure that there is no doubling-up of patients on beds at the country’s main hospital.

This extension, coming at a cost of Gy$235.9M, will house offices, a neonatal clinic, “doctor-on-call” rooms, two operating theatres, a birthing room, and a remodelled ground floor with training rooms. A Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit will also be situated on the top floor.

Regarded as the national referral hospital, the GPH 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 GPH recorded its highest birth rate with a figure of 6,085, and the services of this institution are always in demand by patients.

Extension of the ward would aid in reducing the traffic of patients at the GPHC, as patients can then be referred to other health centres once they have been revived.

With completion of the Maternity Ward project, the GPHC will be able to cater for the needs of referred patients, as the institution would be provided with better and improved services.