RESIDENTS of the Upper Demerara Berbice Region, particularly the town of Linden, can now benefit from upgraded ophthalmology services with the establishment of a spanking new modern facility located in the old Mackenzie Hospital building.

On Tuesday, regional officials were given a tour of the facility and were astounded to see the progress that has been made within months and the transformation from old to new.
The facility now sports a modernised ophthalmology operating theatre, an observation ward, eye-testing area, lens and frame showroom, pre-anaesthesia room, vision room, ophthalmologist consultation room, optometrist practising room and treatment room.

Chief Executive Officer of Linden Hospital Complex, Dr Mohammed Riyasat, said that the new facility which can accommodate 100 persons at once was much needed and will provide better quality eye services.

Lindeners, he said, will benefit from free eye-testing and subsidised spectacles. National Insurance Scheme Vouchers are also accepted. Dr Riyasat said that he is pleased with the operating theatre, since eye surgeries such as cataract removal can now be done in a sterile environment.

“To do eye surgery, you have to have an extremely sterile location, you cannot contaminate with any other surgery with a bad foot or abscess,” he said. After surgery, patients will be observed in the facility’s very own ward.

Linden’s lone ophthalmologist who also serves as LHC’s Medical Superintendent, Dr Rameeza McDonald, also expressed gratitude for the new facility. “The area is actually a nice set-up for complete ophthalmology services. Little by little we are getting more and more equipment and we will be able to cover all the areas as it relates to eye services in Linden,” she said.

Regional Chairman Renis Morian said he is very impressed with the new facility and is urging Lindeners to take advantage of what is offered. He commended the Government and the Ministry of Health for answering the town’s call for improved services in this regard.

“I am happy that in the Upper Demerara Berbice and primarily Linden, we can enjoy (these) services, I want to encourage residents to take full use of this facility instead of travelling to Georgetown, you can come right here,” Morian said.

He also commended the management of LHC for utilising the old hospital for several purposes. In addition to the new ophthalmology facility, the old building also has a Day Care Centre, the Ante-natal Clinic, Management offices and on Tuesday a ‘One Stop Centre’ for abused children was commissioned.