By Shirley Thomas

THERE are high expectations for the newly-appointed nine-member Board of Directors of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), as they go about the task of overseeing the administration of that institution for the year 2015/2016.

Heading the Board from Monday is Dr. Carl Max Hanoman, who was unanimously elected as Chairman of the ‘Level Five Referral’ or ‘University Hospital’, as it is known. Chief Executive Officer Mr. Allan Johnson, and Director of Medical and Professional Services, Dr. Sheik Amir, are ex-officio members. The other members of the Board are: Colonel Patrick West (GDF), Mr. Kentom Alexander, Ms. Colette Adams, Ms. Sonia Roopnauth, Mrs. Cleopatra Barkoye, and Ms. Mandy Sukhdeo.

The members shall hold office for a period of one year, but shall be eligible for re-appointment, according to Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings, who presided over the election for the position of Chairman of the Board.

In her charge, Minister Cummings told the Board that much is expected of them, and the bar is very high when it comes to the delivery of services to the general public by the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.

RAISE STANDARDS
The minister called on the Board not only to ensure that standards are raised, but that the quality of customer service offered at the institution is second to none.

“This Board, I inform you, is a national priority of the Government to provide the best healthcare services at GPHC, and must operate in line with that priority,” Dr. Cummings declared.

The minister charged that the board must be open to being monitored, and seek continuous improvement in the quality of care offered at the GPHC.

“We must be able to provide comprehensive and quality care at all times. We must monitor the effectiveness of significant organizational programmes. We must take action, where appropriate, to improve, to modify, and even eliminate such programmes as necessary in order to maintain organizational excellence,” the minister declared.

Dr. Cummings said she expects — and did express confidence — that the Board will act with the highest integrity to promote hospital-based healthcare that meets the needs of the community.
Noting that so much has been said about the Georgetown Hospital from time to time, she said that from the time one enters the Accident and Emergency Unit, it becomes apparent that there is a disconnect between the nursing care and doctors’ care.

“So we hope that attention will be paid in those areas,” the minister pointed out.

She urged the Chairman and members of the Board not to be intimidated by the presence of the Chief Executive Officer and Director of Professional and Medical Services on the Board. “If they are doing something that is not right we have to tell them. A friend is not a friend if you can’t tell them where they are going wrong.”

She accordingly challenged the Board to clarify its performance expectations for the CEO, in order to ensure measurable goals and to assess and evaluate guidelines and act in accordance with standards.

TOE THE LINE
Challenging that from ‘top down’, everybody must be above board and conduct themselves according to standards, the minister affirmed: “We want everybody to toe the line, and we want everybody to be above board so that everybody will be proud to be a part of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation’s team, and be happy to use the service here.”

Responding to the sentiments expressed, Dr. Hanoman said he was elated at being elected Chairman of the Board. He recalled having worked at the Georgetown Public Hospital for many years, and also being involved with the Medical Association and the programme of the University of Guyana School of Medicine, which he later gave up.

Alluding to reports of problems existing at the GPHC, Dr. Hanoman said that, in like manner, the success stories should be reported. However, he said that while there are so many positive things happening, the institution still has a far way to go.

“We do have problems. You hear people talk about overcrowding; you hear about a shortage of drugs; but you don’t hear people talk about the many successful caesarean section surgeries; the long hours doctors work…. Our job is to try to elevate the standards at the GPHC, and we will try to do it systematically,” he promised.

He said he was looking forward to the cooperation of the Board, so that the many progressive ideas he has can come to fruition.

COMPUTERIZATION
Starting out on a positive note, Dr. Hanoman’s first commitment to the minister was the computerization of the hospital.

“I think the Honourable Minister could leave here with the assurance that the first task the Board will undertake is the computerization of the GPHC. This will effectively cut out the practice of writing things ‘here and there on paper,” the chairman explained.