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Private university conducting feasibility study for specialty hospital
A vast majority of Guyanese seek advanced medical health care overseas. It was against this background that moves were streamlined to bring to fruition a specialty hospital.
Outstanding architectural work at the Providence campus.
Taking up this challenge is the Texila American University (TAU). This is according to President and Founder of the University, Mr. Saju Bhaskar, who has observed that many Guyanese have been known to seek health care in countries such as India, the United States and even Trinidad and Tobago, among other territories.
He is convinced that this could become a thing of the past with the introduction of a specialty hospital staffed with quality medical personnel.
As such he divulged, “We are at the stage of a feasibility study at the moment.” In fact Bhaskar informed that TAU could either seek a location to accommodate such a venture or utilise the sprawling land space of its recently completed university at Providence, East Bank Demerara.
“We have enough space to build it or we could acquire space. But we are looking at this [Providence] space as a location,” said Bhaskar during a recent interview.
That location, he noted, could be ideal given the fact that there are plans for the construction of a road from Ogle that connects to the East Bank of Demerara. “If the road is going to come from Ogle then you know we have the West Coast, the West Bank and even the East Coast which have new developing societies and they don’t have access to a hospital [with advance care]…” said Bhaskar.
“If there is an emergency and if there is a traffic situation you don’t have separate lanes here for ambulances, so you have to wait 40 to 45 minutes that can make a life or death difference,” Bhaskar emphasised as he described the Providence location as “a nice destination because this is the centre of a large population of the coastal belt.”
The feasibility study currently being conducted, according to Bhaskar, will essentially help to chart the way forward. He, however, noted that “we are optimistic that we can move apace within a year’s time. We think by then we can start with the [actual] work…”
“We are looking to have a 100 – 150 bed hospital. Maybe that would put us as the largest private hospital in terms of bed space once we are up and fully functional,” said Bhaskar.
But according to the TAU President, once the feasibility study is completed “we would meet with Government but we don’t think the government will have any objection with this since they are not going ahead with their specialty hospital…”
“I don’t think that the government should have any objection on that hospital because health care is very critical,” continued an optimistic Bhaskar.
Once it comes to fruition, Bhaskar said that “the hospital is going to be a paying hospital of course but we will have some free beds which we will call the education beds, because the students will need to interact with patients.”
TAU first opened its doors in 2010 operating out of the Critchlow Labour College. The university later opened a branch at Sparendaam, East Coast Demerara and recently completed construction of a 100,000 square foot campus valued at some US$10 million at Providence, East Bank Demerara with capabilities to cater to some 1,000 students.
Its flagship programme from the inception has been Medicine which is currently complemented with a nursing programme and plans are apace to soon introduce pharmacy and other programmes.
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