AN operating theatre is among several upgrades at the Infectious Diseases Hospital at Liliendaal. Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, while giving the daily COVID-19 update on Friday, said the new facility will cater for pregnant women affected by COVID-19.

“We have completed the operating theater at the Ocean View Hospital, because on occasions we have women who are coming in pregnant and on occasions we have to do emergency caesarean sections and that’s why we have installed a theatre at the Ocean View Hospital to cater for those emergencies because in instances the mothers are too sick to be moved to the Georgetown hospital and therefore, we really have to do an emergency operation sometimes,” Dr. Anthony said.

Apart from the operating theatre, the hospital will soon be fully outfitted with pipes taking oxygen to all the beds.

“So, we have piped oxygen, going to every bed on the second floor and we had started about a week and a half ago on the third floor, so that’s about completed as well, so the entire hospital now of close to 195 or so beds, to each bed we now have oxygen,” the Health Minister said.

The Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) and Sewa Guyana recently donated an oxygen generating plant to the hospital. This independent source of oxygen is expected to greatly reduce the cost of purchasing oxygen for the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

“On the outside of the building, we have started construction of a base, so that when the oxygen plant comes into Guyana, that we will have the suitable base on which it can be installed so these are the works that have been ongoing at the facility,” Dr. Anthony added.

The Infectious Diseases Hospital currently has a capacity of 195 beds, 50 of which are in the ICU.

“We have been expanding that ICU so we can comfortably accommodate about 50 patients, ICU type patients, the other wards are there for people who would have the less severe form of COVID, but nevertheless, they require hospitalisation,” Dr. Anthony said.

The Health Minister also noted that the hospital currently has an excess capacity as the numbers of patients are declining.

“I would say excess capacity because our cases at the hospital have come down quite a bit, right now we have 41 patients at the hospital and we have 17 persons in the ICU that is coming down from when we had an average 38 patients in the ICU and probably about 120 patients in the hospital itself, so that’s a significant difference.” (DPI)