RESIDENTS of Paramakatoi and surrounding communities in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), will soon benefit from an upgraded health facility, under the Smart Hospital Initiative.

A $44.4 million contract was on Tuesday awarded to the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) for the retrofitting of the medical institution.

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony said the government’s goal is to ensure Guyana has one of the healthiest populations in the Caribbean.
“I think we are setting a new standard, and people are now going to look forward to all our facilities meeting this as the basic minimum standard,” Dr. Anthony said.

He said while the GDF is not traditionally known for such projects, its Engineering Corps has been working, especially in the interior locations.
The Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) is implementing and supervising the project, while the Government of the United Kingdom is providing funding.

Commander Vernon Burnett, who represented the Chief-of-Staff, said that the GDF is happy to be partnering with the people of Paramakatoi, and is confident about completing the project within the specified time.

British High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller said that the ‘smart hospital’ initiative exists in seven countries around the Caribbean. She said the idea is to retrofit those facilities to be adaptable to climate and different disasters that might occur.

She said that of the facilities seen so far, the transformation is mind-blowing and reflected in the positive response from patients and healthcare workers who use them.

“One of the reasons for this initiative is to have ‘smart’ hospitals which are solar powered, which are rainwater shedding, which have better lighting, which have better flow of patients, better health facilities, and much more resilient to this new climate crisis in which we all live,” the High Commissioner noted.

The ‘smart’ healthcare facilities project in the Caribbean is being funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) to the tune of $835 million (US$4.175 million).

The local facilities that are listed as beneficiaries of the project are the Diamond Diagnostic Hospital, the Leonora Diagnostic and Treatment Centre, the Mabaruma Regional Hospital, and the Paramakatoi Health Centre. The project is expected to be completed in four months.

(DPI)