– Foster dismisses claims by acting Region Six chairman

PUBLIC Health Ministry, Focal Point Coordinator Alex Foster said minor surgeries and screening are being done at the National Ophthalmology Hospital, Port Mourant, Berbice as he dismissed claims to the contrary by acting Region Six Chairman Dennis Deroop.

Deroop, on Thursday morning, called out Regional Health Services Director Jevaugh Stephens for what he deems inaccurate reports about the operations of the hospital, based on an article published in some sections of the media.

Speaking to reporters, he said that he has been getting conflicting reports from persons who visited the hospital only to be turned away reportedly because no operations or procedures are being performed, contrary to what Stephens had told the regional administration and what was published in the media.

As a result, Deroop said he decided to make an impromptu visit to the facility early on Thursday morning to ascertain what was happening there, but was told he needs to wait until a representative from the Ministry of Health is present.

He said he waited for a while and after not seeing anyone, he decided to air his concerns to the media.

“We [are] seeing a continuous behaviour of the health services director misleading the Regional Administration and I think this RDC (Regional Democratic Council) will have to make a decision on it, to recommend disciplinary actions be taken against him for misleading us and providing us with inaccurate reports,” Deroop said.

He continued that there have been occasions in the past where information reaching the administration from the health services director do not match up with the situation on the ground.

Foster, who visited the facility, has since disputed the claims by Deroop. He said that over 70 surgeries were done between January and April and that the facility is opened and minor operations are conducted daily.

He further noted, that while major surgeries can be conducted a decision was taken by the Public Health Ministry not to do so now, but after some upgrading works are completed.

“The major surgeries can be conducted but we (Ministry of Health) decided that in order to provide a more responsive and better of quality service to the thousands of patients we have scheduled for major surgeries, we should upgrade the facilities. When we started, we realised a lot more work was done and a decision was made to do a comprehensive overhaul of the entire hospital because we expect it to be for the first time, fully utilised over three shifts,” Foster said.

He said works are ongoing and while he would love for it to be completed by the end of next week, he would await official confirmation from the four teams working around the clock to complete their work.

“We are hoping it is going to be finished by next week but I will not give you that date since work keeps getting added to the workload. For example, the AC was not working, now that we fixed it, we have to replace the windows to allow it to function effectively; the water filtration system is being done, the kitchen was upgraded…they are all being done to cater for the patients’ needs,” he said.

When completed, the hospital will be of international standard. There is a backlog of over 2,000 cases for major surgeries at the National Ophthalmology Hospital.