Latest update April 4th, 2025 5:09 PM
Latest News
Newly upgraded ‘Diamond Smart Hospital’ commissioned
Kaieteur News – Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony on Saturday commissioned the newly upgraded Diamond Diagnostic Centre on the East Bank of Demerara as a ‘Smart Hospital’.
The Smart Hospital initiative comes under a United Kingdom funded $835M project seeking to transform five health institutions in Guyana into ‘smart’ facilities. The other hospitals to be upgraded are the Mabaruma and Lethem Regional Hospitals, the Leonora Cottage Hospital and the Paramakatoi Health Centre. Its general aim is to upgrade the facilities to standards that are ‘green’ and ‘ safe’, lessening their carbon footprints; in addition, the SMART hospitals also promote better work and patient flow.
Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony delivering his remarks during the commissioning.
Present at the commissioning ceremony were key health officials, including Dr. Anthony, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Public Affairs, Kwame McCoy and Deputy British High Commissioner, Ray Davidson who revealed that the upgrades the hospital underwent amounted to some $222 million. Since the initial allocation for the upgrade was approximately $199 million, an additional sum of over $20 million had to be spent.
Giving his remarks at the ceremony, the Health Minister announced that “This hospital will be manned by 58 nurses and we have 20 doctors who would be working here. So, we have a strong complement of staff that would be assigned here and that would be working to make sure that they provide the best care that we can offer at thus facility.”
It was also revealed that since it is supposed to be environmentally friendly, the hospital has also been equipped with a solar system, allowing it to generate its own electricity, which is said to be a reduced cost for the government. Also, a harvesting system has been installed for rainwater to also reduce energy costs.
“We have been able in this particular hospital, to reorganise the internal space of the hospital to allow for better efficiency and flow of patients. So, when people came before it was a little bit jumbled; you had to search how to get to the pharmacy or how to get to the lab. When you visit after this, when we open the hospital formally, you’ll see that there’s a natural flow from one area to another, and that is a good thing,” Anthony also said.
Pan American Health Organization/ World Health Organization Guyana representative, Dr. Luis Felipe Codina, who was also present at the commissioning, outlined that with the upgrades complete at the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, the focus will now be placed on the other facilities set to be upgraded. He said, “We have Lethem, Mabaruma and Leonora, and we expect that the end of June, Paramakatoi will sign also and we will have these four facilities included in the Smart hospital (initiative) before the end of the year.”
The facility is expected to offer 24-hour emergency medical services, obstetrics, gynaecology, orthopaedics and outpatient services, as well as ancillary services which include ultrasounds and x-rays and surgical procedures for patients.
Additionally, citizens can expect to see improvements at many other local health institutions as the government would have already assessed 89 health facilities across the country and they too will see different kinds of upgrades according to Minister Anthony.
The newly upgraded Diamond Diagnostic Centre. (Photo: DPI)
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
The reciprocal tariffs
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has once again proven his talent for making the indefensible... more
Weekend Cartoon
