LETHEM’S healthcare system has been making leaps and bounds, Minister within the Ministry of Public, Health Dr. Karen Cummings said as she expressed deep satisfaction.

Dr. Cummings, on Thursday, said she is extremely pleased with the quality of services being delivered to residents of Lethem, Region Nine, and neighbouring communities, by the Lethem Regional Hospital.

From the availability of specialists for paediatrics, to orthopaedic surgeries, to robust dental and rehabilitative services, Minister Cummings said the medical institution is moving up in its quality of service.

Dr. Cummings spearheaded a team that visited to the hospital on Thursday and toured the facilities. “I am so happy with what I have seen. We have specialists here from paediatrics, to orthopaedic surgeries, obstetrics, along with a waiting home for women from far-flung communities,” Minister Cummings told the Department of Public Information (DPI).

She said with Lethem being a relatively new town situated in the hinterland, the expectation would be that all the services are not readily available. However, it is, in fact, the opposite.

“You would think that around these parts there are not many facilities and extra facilities, but we do have all of those here and we do have them here and I am very pleased with the quality of the service being delivered to the residents here and those on the outskirts,” she said.

While at the health institution, the junior health minister engaged the staff there who used the opportunity to raise a few concerns. Government, the minister assured the staff, will be addressing those issues at the earliest possible time.

“I am very happy with the manner in which our health facility is being managed by the staff here and I know that we will continue to offer quality effective and efficient service to the people,” she said.

Regional Health Officer (RHO), Region Nine, Dr. Naail Uthman has been acting in the post for the last three months. His work covers Lethem Central, North Region, Annai, Karasabai, Aishalton and Sand Creek.

He said an operating theatre and laboratory were recently completed at Aishalton, along with the rehabilitated nurses’ hostel and newly constructed medex quarters. In Annai, a new maternity waiting home was completed. Approval has also been given for a new ambulance and the extension of the maternity ward.

Sand Creek has seen an extension to the waiting area and the male and female wards. In Lethem, a new seven-room apartment building was recently completed for medical staff that may need the living quarters. Some adjustments will also be made to the current living quarters to accommodate more personnel.

Today, the team accompanying Minister Cummings will commence a medical outreach to a number of villages in the region. According to the minister, the full teams of dentists, ophthalmologists, phlebotomists and medical doctors, will be offering full packaged services in the various communities. The medical outreach forms part of a larger ministerial fan-out exercise in several communities across the Rupununi Region from February 15 to 17.