facility to benefit over 3,000 persons

OVER 3,000 persons will no longer have to travel long distances to access primary health care following the commissioning of a $38 million health centre at Fort Ordinance, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), on Monday.

The facility is equipped with three examination rooms, two doctors’ rooms, a waiting area, kitchen and a spacious compound. Three nurses will be stationed at the health centre while two doctors are expected to do regular visits.

During his address at a simple commissioning ceremony, Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony said the government has been making critical investments in order to enhance health care delivery in Region Six, and across the country.

He said the government, through his ministry, has been working towards the objective of creating a world-class health care system in Guyana.
In keeping with this, two new hospitals will be constructed in Region Six, Dr. Anthony said, noting that construction has already commenced on a new Skeldon Hospital, while very shortly, the construction of the new New Amsterdam Hospital, which will be a Level-Five hospital, is expected to start soon.

Additionally, across the country, 12 new hospitals will be built, while $100 million was allocated to each region for the upgrade of health centres and dwellings for health care workers.
Regarding the Fort Ordinance health centre, Dr. Anthony said it was necessary because of the growing population.
The community currently has approximately 3,000 residents; however, a new housing scheme is being developed and more persons will eventually reside there.
Dr. Anthony said: “There are gaps in population growth in certain areas, and we don’t have a healthcare facility in that area, and, therefore, we need to think about how we will serve that population.
“And one way of serving the population is to make a health care facility in that area…so, when we look across this region, we recognise there are various gaps; your community was one of them, and that is why we built this facility so you can access services closer to where you live, so with that in mind, this facility was built.”
While acknowledging that an increased population dictates the need for more services, Minister Anthony related that they are working to ensure that the health centres not only offer Maternity and Child Health Care services, but over 216 services.

He said that the health sector is growing at a phenomenal pace and persons will see unprecedented transformation as promised by President, Dr. Irfaan Ali.
“When the President spoke about having a world-class health care system, it’s not an empty promise. We are backing that up with the interventions that we are doing; we are backing that up with the resources; it is the first time in the history of this country that we are building so many hospitals. Think about that, we have in this country about 22 district hospitals; we are building just in this short period of time, more than 12 new hospitals; that is a phenomenal kind of thing that we’re doing; it’s the first time it is happening in the history of our country.

“There are lots of improvements that you will see, and we want the community to work with us to make sure that these assets that we are putting down, that you protect them,” Dr. Anthony said.

HEALTH CENTRES
Regional Chairman of Region Six, David Armogan, said that across Region Six, the demand for health care has been increasing significantly over the past few years, so three other health centres will be constructed namely at Canefield, Mara and Chesney.
This, he said, will help mitigate the patient load at the regional hospitals and make the lives of citizens much easier.