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Dental Department at Oscar Joseph Hospital, Charity in chaos
The non-functional Dental Department at the Oscar Joseph District Hospital, Essequibo Coast.
The Dental Department at the Oscar Joseph District Hospital is in total chaos. This is according to patients who recently visited the health facility for dental care, but were turned away due to the department’s deplorable condition.
As reports surfaced about the deplorable state of the department, a visit was subsequently made to the Health Facility by this publication.
It was observed by Kaieteur News that the department was in disarray. Dental equipment were improperly stored, instruments used for oral services tossed about as if useless. It was also observed that the sink situated in the department was non-functional.
This hospital which is located in Charity, Pomeroon, provides health care for thousands of residents living in the Pomeroon, and parts surrounding Charity.
Sadly, persons living in the Pomeroon are often referred to other health facilities along the Coast, since the Hospital’s Dental Department is inoperative. Additional expenses are thus incurred on these individuals, who are forced to travel an additional 16 miles to Anna Regina. These individuals-after journeying to another health facility- are sometimes turned away, since the dentists only operate on a limited number of patients per day.
Kaieteur News understands that the department has been in a deplorable state since May 2017, when rehabilitation and construction works were being carried out by a contractor, at the health institution. After more than seven months, the contractor has failed in getting the department functional-this is according to regional officials.
Region Two Chairman, Devenand Ramdatt, explained at a recent press conference that the contractor is in breach of his contract, and as such, the contract needs to be terminated. Ramdatt noted that the person who needs to make the decision of contract termination is the Regional Executive Officer, Rupert Hopkinson.
The Regional Chairman added, “For some reason he (Hopkinson) does not want to act in that direction…,” he is the one who needs to sign for these contracts to be terminated. The works committee strongly recommends that the contract be terminated based on his slothfulness to execute.
He has exhausted his contracts period and he is in breach of the contract .Consideration must be given towards this because the contractor has a bad track record when it comes to implementation.” Ramdatt believes that the contractor’s layback approach in implementing his projects, may have contributed to the setback with the dentistry department.
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