WHEN we noticed construction beginning on a building behind our home, on the eastern side of the main road in Golden Grove, East Bank Demerara, we were curious about what it would be.

As it began to take shape, we realised it was going to be something big and then we began to speculate about the owner.

However, little did I know that less than two years after Farrington Luxury Suites and Dialysis Centre opened its doors, I would meet and talk to the person behind this impressive four-storey building, Paulett Mercurius.

Elegant and well-spoken, with a low afro, this woman spoke with passion, not about the luxury suites, but about the state-of-the-art dialysis centre on the ground floor.

Her family owns the land on which the building was erected, and Paulett and her mother grew up there.

“There was an old house there that my great aunt used to live in,” she recalls. Upon the death of the old lady, the property was passed on to Paulett and her siblings — an older brother and sister — and the Luxury Suites and Dialysis Centre was born.

When I asked her ‘why a dialysis centre?’, she was quick to reply that there was a need in the country for such services, as she had a friend who died because of the lack of such facilities.

And so, the building opened in 2023, with the first event being the celebration of Paulett’s 60th birthday.

Resident in the United States (US), she travels to Guyana regularly to oversee the operation of the centre — one of the largest in the country — which became functional in May of last year.
At a cost OF $12,000 per session, the Farrington Dialysis Centre is the cheapest in the country. Ms Mercurius said, “Nowhere else in the country has a $12,000 fee for dialysis treatment.”

However, she expressed concern over the fact that, while patients are referred to the centre by social workers, their personal physicians often advise them to go elsewhere, either to centres they themselves run or those owned by friends.

This is troubling because the Farrington Dialysis Centre is not only the cheapest, but is also one of the best in the country, with 12 machines.

Patients, many from low-income families, endure financial strain when they have to use more costly services, because dialysis is usually required two or three times per week.

The Farrington Dialysis Centre has on board a nephrologist (an expert in kidney diseases) as well as registered nurses and dialysis technicians. A doctor is also available for consultation twice a month.

The luxury suites are well-appointed and the building also boasts a lounge and roof garden with views of the surrounding area.

The proud owner spoke of some of the negative comments coming her way, such as, “They’ll never be able to finish duh building…it too big.”

“Grove is near and dear to me,” she said with a smile.

She grew up there and sought to give back to her community by establishing the centre. And she herself studied practical nursing just to be able to function at the centre if necessary.

“I wanted to come back and contribute in some shape or form…in the medical field”.

Considering that once a person begins dialysis treatment, they have to continue it for the rest of their lives, the Farrington Dialysis Centre and its owner Paulett Mercurius, are doing an admirable job and providing a much-needed service