THE authorities in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) recently held its first award ceremony as it honoured 33 healthcare workers for going above and beyond the call of duty.

Twenty healthcare workers each received an overnight stay, fully paid, at the Lake Mainstay Resort in recognition of their work; an additional ten received certificates of achievement and prizes.
Samantha Spellen received a Regional Health Officer’s Award; Kirk Barratt the Hospital Administrator’s Award; Nurse Nikois Smith the Medical Superintendent’s Award; and Nurse Vonneysha Harding the Matron’s Award.

These awards/prizes are given to staff who go beyond the call of duty, and are ready to serve in good and bad times. The function was held in the boardroom of the West Demerara Regional Hospital, and saw in attendance Director-General of the Ministry of Health Dr. Vishwa Mahadeo; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health Mr. Malcolm Watkins; Director of Regional Health Services Mr. Michael Gouveia; and Coordinator of the Foreign Medical Brigade Ms. Nirmala Sukhna.

Dr. Mahadeo, in congratulating all the workers, said the healthcare workers of Region Three are deserving of kudos, since it was because of them that Region Three stood out as the only region that continued doing elective surgeries throughout the year, in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also congratulated the hospital itself for having no backlog of surgical cases, as they are now well placed to assist with cases from other hospitals.

The Director-General challenged the staff of Region Three to up their game in this new year, and identified some areas that could do with a bit of improvement, such as taking healthcare to the bed-ridden and elderly in their homes, increasing the number of specialist outreaches to the riverine communities, and ensuring that transfers are reduced to a minimum.

He also requested of staff to be prepared at all times to assist other regions with patients, as deemed necessary. The West Demerara Regional Hospital must manage patients passing through from Regions One (Barima-Waini), Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), and Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), while also dealing with referral cases.

The prizes were all donated by Meditron (20 trips to the Lake Mainstay Resort), Republic Bank (Best Health Centre Award), and Paul Singh (Longest Serving Employee).