MINISTER of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, says Guyana’s healthcare system is undergoing a major transformation, with expanded regional services, advanced medical procedures, and the construction of several new hospitals aimed at decentralising healthcare delivery across the country.
During a recent interview on Starting Point, Dr Anthony said Guyana has significantly increased its healthcare capacity over the past few years, both in terms of infrastructure and specialised medical services.
“I think it’s both. Capacity has certainly increased, we have certainly increased capacity on the infrastructure side, and we have better trained people,” the Minister explained.
According to Dr Anthony, Guyana is now capable of performing several highly specialised procedures that were once impossible due to limited equipment and expertise.
“We can do very complicated surgeries, neurosurgeries. We can do very complicated heart surgeries. Right now, we can do hip implants, knee implants, kidney transplants, cornea transplants. These are all very sophisticated types of surgeries,” he said.
The Health Minister noted that a key focus of the government’s healthcare strategy has been decentralisation, with advanced services now being offered outside of Georgetown.
He explained that six new regional hospitals have already been completed and are fully operational, including facilities at Lima in Region Two, De Kinderen in Region Three, two along the East Bank and East Coast corridors in Region Four, one in Region Five, and another at Number 75 Village in Region Six.
These hospitals are helping to reduce pressure on the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) by providing emergency care, surgeries, diagnostics, and inpatient services closer to where patients live.
“Already, we are doing surgeries and a lot of emergency care at these hospitals. We have accident and emergency departments that work 24 hours, three operating theatres, 24-hour pharmacies, and imaging suites with ultrasound, X-rays, and CT scans,” he stated.
The Minister highlighted that the diagnostic capabilities of the new facilities have vastly improved when compared to previous years.
“These new hospitals have 64-slice CT equipment, and so the quality of diagnostics that we can do has improved vastly,” he noted.
Dr Anthony also pointed to modern inpatient amenities now available at the hospitals, including rooms equipped with toilets and baths, patient assistance systems, and technology designed to monitor the quality of nursing care being provided.
He further explained that lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the design and development of the new healthcare facilities.
“We had challenges getting oxygen during COVID, so each one of these hospitals now has an oxygen plant on site. We manufacture our own oxygen,” the Minister said.
According to Dr Anthony, all six hospitals are now fully operational and have already served thousands of patients across Guyana.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has commenced a second wave of hospital construction, including the new Maternal and Paediatric Hospital at Ogle, the New Amsterdam Hospital, the new West Demerara Hospital, and additional facilities at Moruca, Kato, and Lethem.
The Health Minister said those hospitals are currently under construction and are expected to be completed within the next two years as government continues its nationwide expansion and modernisation of the healthcare sector. It is all part of HE President Irfaan Ali’s vision to provide world class health care to all citizen across the country.
