CONSTRUCTION work on the new regional hospital at Diamond, East Bank Demerara is moving apace and is thus far on track to meet the intended completion date.

This hospital is one of six regional hospitals that will be constructed across Guyana as part of a deal with China’s Sinopharm International.

When Guyana Chronicle visited the site on Friday, workers were completing the foundation for the building.

According to one of the engineers on site, the work has been moving at a good pace.

He indicated that the limited number of workers on the site is the only challenge they have faced so far. The engineers explained that this occurred because some of the workers had to be sent to another location where one of the remaining five hospitals is being built.

In August last year, the government signed contracts with Sinopharm International for the construction of these six new regional hospitals. The new facilities are set to be built at Anna Regina, Region Two; De Kinderen, Region Three; Diamond and Enmore, Region Four; and Skeldon, Region Six.

Each of the new regional hospitals will be 65,000 square feet. The aim of the initiative is to have modern healthcare facilities in five of Guyana’s 10 regions.

The government had presented proposals for the health sector and noted that the project is part of a larger $37.2 billion initiative to modernise the country’s regional healthcare system.

The government over the past three years has been on a mission to improve and modernise Guyana’s healthcare sector with significant investments being made to boost the human resource capacity and expertise, construct and upgrade healthcare facilities and provide modern pieces of equipment.