IN order to ensure that all Guyanese have access to quality medical treatment, the government is investing in the construction of health facilities across Guyana.

Adviser to the Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, recently disclosed in a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle that during Dr. Frank Anthony’s (Minister of Health) recent trip to Region Two, he and some of the regional officials visited Lima, a village situated on the outskirts of the town of Anna Regina where a regional hospital will be constructed.

“This regional hospital is one of the six modern hospitals that are being built by the Chinese contractors that are in the country. This hospital and the other new ones will have three theatres, that is, one emergency theatre and two main ones, as well as CT scans, an intensive care unit (ICU) for adults, children, and infants, cataract surgeries that will be performed, and other services that will be available,” he said.

The adviser further explained that it was vitally important to have the hospital in that community since it was more centrally located in the region, and more so in an area that is populated.

“We have considered the location based on the population, and of course it was the central point on the coast”, he added.

He said that more importantly, the hospital is designed to provide more efficient and modern services.

“While we can upgrade the Suddie and Charity hospitals, which we are currently working on and will continue, these older hospitals are not designed to provide the kind of services that we need to introduce in Region Two and the other regions, and that is why we are working on building new hospitals, and not having to build separate buildings, and the services are fragmented,” he told this publication.

Even though the Suddie and Charity hospitals are equipped with theatres, Dr. Ramsammy explained that they are not suitable for the more modern surgical interventions that they are bringing to the country and, by extension, the regions.

He also related that “we” have a leader (President Ali) who believes in taking the government to the people, and in that respect, he said, “We are taking health care to the region and its people.”

While persons will have to come to Georgetown for some procedures, Dr. Ramsammy said: “The whole idea for these investments in the different regions is so that people wouldn’t have to come to Georgetown for a certain diagnosis; they should be in comfort in their own regions where their families can attend to them as well. What we are doing across the country is building more hospitals and providing more efficient services that were never there.”

JOB CREATION

As it relates to job creation in the health sector, the minister’s adviser emphasised that, “buildings are not hospitals, buildings are a part of a hospital. The real hospital is the patients who come, and the people who are employed there; that’s what makes a hospital a hospital. Clearly, a 75 beds hospital with full diagnostic, full rehab, and full, in-patient facilities, including intensive care, will require a large staff. It is not only nurses, doctors, and medical staff who will be employed at these institutions. There will also be opportunities for support staff such as cleaners, porters, security, and much more. These facilities will create thousands of jobs for health workers and persons from the community.”

Furthermore, Dr. Ramsammy explained that it isn’t rocket science to figure out that “we” in Guyana, the whole of the Caribbean, and like all developed countries, have a problem with nurses and not having enough of them in the health sector.

“Along with the construction of these hospitals, we have also started a new nursing programme where we had about 150 to 250 nurses in the intake class, each year, but for this year we had about 1,200 nurses, and we are hoping that the number will climb to 1,500 next year. That is inclusive of online training as well, and a number of these students would be studying in their own communities and not having to travel and stay in Georgetown, New Amsterdam, or Linden, where we have our nursing schools.”

However, he added that at some point in time they will have to have “in-house training,” which is why he said the government is constructing additional housing for such persons.

He also revealed that one of the new nursing schools, which will be inclusive of dorms, will be located in the Suddie Hospital compound, and it is expected to be ready by the end of next year.

“With these training programmes, and training facilities, we are hoping to have enough of our own health workers in these new institutions”, Dr. Ramsammy said.

Finally, Dr. Ramsammy disclosed that the Lima Regional Hospital which is slated for completion in December 2024, is one of 10 new hospitals that will be constructed.

The others will be located at Number 75 Village in Region Six, Bath Settlement in Region Five, Enmore on the East Coast of Demerara, Little Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara, De Kinderen on the West Coast of Demerara, and will have the same services that are available at the New Amsterdam and Linden Hospitals, while the other four will be built in the hinterland.