No ultrasound technician at Suddie Hospital

Jul 14, 2022 News

– residents forced to ‘dig deep’ into pockets to go private

Kaieteur News – Residents of Region Two are calling on the relevant authorities to look into their plight as they are now forced to pay between $7,000 and $10,000 to get an ultrasound done since there is no trained technician to carry out the procedure at the Suddie Public Hospital.

The Suddie Public Hospital

According to residents, the hospital has been unable to facilitate ultrasound services since February this year. Residents who raised the issue with Kaieteur News said that at one time they were told that the machine was down and the other time, was that there was no trained personnel to carry out the services at the hospital.

The problem has become overbearing and residents complained that it is very inconvenient and costly and are calling on the relevant authorities to address the situation immediately. One resident, speaking under conditions of anonymity said that “some places charge around $7,000 and $10,000 for the ultrasound, and when you have real emergency and your relatives are sick and they really need it, you got to find that money to give them and in this hard economic time it’s very hard on patients especially the poor people of the region who go there to try to get the service.”

When contacted yesterday for a comment on the situation, the Regional Health Officer of Region Two, Dr. Ranjeev Singh clarified that the ultrasound system is not down, but that there is no technician at the moment to carry out the procedure. “What happen is that the Cuban (doctor) who used to operate the machines was sent back to Cuba and we are awaiting the ministry to send someone, because it’s a technician or a doctor. We do not have that person at Suddie at this moment,” he explained.

He mentioned too, that they reach out to the Ministry for a replacement, and according to him “the ministry is awaiting some doctors to be sent and technicians from Cuba.” The RHO noted that ultrasounds for emergency cases are being done at the hospital and that is being carried out by a gynecologist doctor. For other patients seeking the services he shared that there are private institutions that offer this service at this time.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News