THE field hospital donated to Guyana by Qatar to support the country’s fight against COVID-19 will now be established at the National Infectious Diseases Hospital, at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.

The hospital, which arrived on Tuesday, was initially earmarked for the West Demerara Regional Hospital. On Wednesday, however, Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, noted that the ministry later realised that the West Demerara hospital does not have the number of personnel that would be required to staff the facility.

“What we have decided, because we already have a lot of capacity in terms of personnel at Ocean View (the Liliendaal hospital), we think it might be more appropriate for us to set it up in the compound of the Ocean View facility,” he explained.

Additionally, this hospital already has some diagnostic infrastructure. The field hospital is expected to be established in the compound of the Liliendaal hospital, which was formerly the location of the Ocean View Hotel.

The field hospital is equipped with 60 beds that are able to manage both critical and non-critical patients. Twenty of those beds can be used as Intensive Care Unit (ICU) facilities, since they are replete with monitors and ventilators to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients. The 20 ICU beds would add to the Liliendaal hospital’s existing 25-bed capacity. This means that the capacity to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients will be almost doubled.

Last year, President Irfaan Ali engaged the Emir of Qatar, His Royal Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, where a commitment was made to provide Guyana with a portable field (or military) hospital and ventilators. The donation of this field hospital is part of a growing relationship between the two countries. Guyana is expected to establish an embassy in Qatar soon.