– a first for Region 10

THE works on the dialysis centre located at the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC) were recently completed and the public will soon be able to access its services.
These dialysis services will be the first of its kind to be offered at the institution and in Region 10 where LHC is located.
The hospital’s Chief Executive Officer (ag), Michelle Bollers, expressed hope that the centre will be operational by November 1.
In a recent interview she said, “All of the nurses that would be working in the area have completed their training, the machines were tested and everything, and so now it’s just for us to open the centre and start the operations. I guess with the transitions and so on with the Government, I guess now that we’ve completed the budget also, they will be able to visit the location and then to decide the way forward as to when we open.”

There are eight dialysis patients seeking to transfer from Georgetown and current patients attached to the Linden Hospital seeking to be registered for the dialysis services. Bollers expressed that these patients will be able to access the services for free but the logistics in relations to cost for the walk-in patients is still being finalized.
Once the centre is up and running, patients in Region 10 will be able to have easier access to the services. Currently, some persons are paying between $25,000 and $30,000 per session for dialysis treatment in Georgetown.

The rooms that were prepared for these services are located at the old Mackenzie Hospital building.
The LHC management has also been utilising space at that location to provide a number of services to the residents of Region Ten. In 2018, a spanking new ophthalmology department, with its own surgical unit was opened. A social service unit for abused children, a mental health department, a daycare centre and an antenatal centre were all established at the old hospital.
Further, the CT department of the hospital is also expected to be completed soon.

Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton, during a recent visit to the hospital, noted that the Upper Demerara-Berbice (Region Ten) has seen a decrease in the staff complement of doctors over the past three years, but with the practicalities in the 2021 Budget, mechanisms will be put in place to ensure five-year scholarship programmes for doctors can resume, thus increasing the quality of health care that will be provided at the Linden Hospital.