Latest update February 4th, 2025 9:06 AM
US medical mission treats hundreds in Linden, Ituni
Lindeners and other residents of Region Ten trekked to the Mackenzie Hospital Complex by the hundreds, and have been doing so daily, as the US Army medical mission contingent, headed by Col. Martin Ridge of 4215th US Army Hospital, continued its mission in the mining town.
And on Thursday, a team of visitors headed by Charge d’Affaires of the United States Embassy, Arnold Campbell, and comprising Rolf Olsen of the Embassy as well as local media operatives visited the operations of the medical team.
Mr Campbell was taken to every location in Mackenzie where the medical team operated and interacted with the visiting doctors.
The intervention by the 44-member US medical team comprising doctors, dentists, nurses, veterinarians and medics has been more than welcome, judging by the huge number of persons that turn up at the hospital daily to access the free medical services.
The intervention comes as part of the United States Government’s ongoing commitment to improving the health of the people of Guyana.
The 4215th US Army Hospital is offering and providing health care in the areas of general medicine and basic dentistry.
Persons at Ituni and Kwakwani were also afforded the opportunity to access the services of the US medical team which traveled to the Ituni Cottage Hospital over the past two days.
Head of the unit, Col. Martin Ridge, at the official opening ceremony of the medical mission, which was held on the lawns of the hospital on Monday last, had expressed his optimism of a great ten days extending professional medical intervention to the people of Region Ten, and said it was a great pleasure to do so.
Col Ridge had also pointed out during an earlier press briefing that the mission was not only to render vital medical services, but also to engage their local counterparts in knowledge sharing, which would go a long way at improving the competence of both parties.
As people thronged the hospital, one comment was, “I didn’t know this place had so many sick people.”
For one reason or another, people within Region Ten have not been fully utilizing the hospital’s services, apparently choosing to wait until the visit of a foreign medical team, some regional leaders observed.
One woman remarked candidly, “I think it is time our local health practitioners take a page out of these people’s books, as it relates to the level of professionalism and courtesy when dealing with patients.”
Another woman’s view was that our local health workers would do well with some military training, which she felt would go a long way at improving the general services at the Linden Hospital Complex!
With the new hospital to be commissioned some time later this year, that is certainly something worth considering by the relevant authorities, she added.
Perhaps both Col. Ridge and a Lindener, Sergeant Dexter Hilliman, might consider extending their stay to facilitate such a programme, as it was duly noted at the official opening of the new Wisburg Secondary School by the British High Commissioner. “It is not the size of the building, and its amenities, but what goes on in those buildings.”
The visit of the 4215th US Army Hospital is the first of three major medical missions to Guyana by US military personnel scheduled for 2008.
A team specialized in tropical medicine will provide treatment and services in and around Lethem in August.
In November, the US Navy ship — Kearsarge — will dock off Guyana’s coast for two weeks to carry out a mission in Region One.
This mission will be similar to that of the US Navy Ship, Comfort, which visited in September of 2007: general and specialized medical treatment, dentistry and veterinary services, with surgical procedures carried out aboard the ship.
(Enid Joaquin)
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