Latest update November 21st, 2024 1:00 AM
Two months later…No eye surgeries yet at fire-damaged Port Mourant hospital
In June, last, a fire at the Port Mourant Ophthalmology Hospital damaged key equipment, but a little over two months later it is unclear when the facility will be up and fully operational.
The Port Mourant Ophthalmology Hospital when it was commissioned back in 2009
The situation is affecting scores of patients who would have been trekking to the hospital weekly for surgeries including glaucoma, refractive, cataract and laser, and pterygium, among others.
While surgeries are not being performed currently, personnel at the hospital have been carrying on with consultations for patients, including for eye tests and spectacles.
Doctors in Berbice were mum on the situation yesterday only saying that they have no information, and that the Ministry of Health is handling the matter.
Patients calling in to Kaieteur News said, that the Ministry would only tell them that they are addressing the situation and that any emergencies would be handled via referrals at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
The Ophthalmology hospital, commissioned in July 2009, was one of several projects under the Guyana/Cuba collaboration programme ,and includes the construction of four diagnostic and treatment centres at Diamond, Suddie, Mahaicony and Leonora.
Patients are referred from the centres to Berbice. There are almost 20 staffers there, with the majority being Cuban specialists.
Kaieteur News reports of the June 19 fire indicated that the fire was believed to be electrical in origin. A key piece of surgery equipment and a section of the roof were damaged.
The section that was destroyed is the main operating centre of the hospital.
Before the Port Mourant facility, some patients had to be flown to Cuba for surgeries.
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