Sod turned for a US$152M specialty hospital

Aug 01, 2022 News

President Mohamed Irfaan Ali along with Minister of Health, Frank Anthony, UK Ambassador to Guyana, Jane Miller, representatives from Austria and the Austrian firm turning the sod for the construction of the specialty hospital at Goedverwagting.

Kaieteur News – President Irfaan Ali, on Sunday turned the sod for a specialised pediatric and maternal hospital to be built at Goedverwagting on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) by an Austrian Firm.

The specialty hospital will cost some US$152M (over GYD$30B) and will be funded by the United Kingdom Export Finance Credit Agency. According to Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony, this will be the largest public health investment in the history of Guyana. During his address at the sod turning event Anthony said, “We are making these investments so people can get the best health care”.

The new hospital will be constructed on two plots of land at Goedverwagting measuring some 24,000 square meters. Constructing and equipping the specialty hospital will be done by VAMED an Austrian company and according to Dr. Anthony, his government will work along with the firm to ensure that the project will be completed in two years.

Upon completion, the multi-billion facility will be equipped with some 256 beds. It will also include an Inpatient and Out-Patient service, General and Subspecialty Paediatric, General and Subspecialty Surgical, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Paediatric Intensive Care (PICU) and Step-Down Unit (SDU). Additionally it will feature an Operating Suite, High- Risk Prenatal and Post-Natal Clinic, General and Subspecialty Paediatric and Surgical Clinics, Paediatric Emergency Room and an Immunization centre.

The institution will also include a Maternal section with its own Antenatal Ward, Birthing Suites, Operation Rooms, Post Natal Ward, Adult high- dependency/critical care, Bereavement support, Antenatal Clinic for High-Risk patients, Pre-Natal Clinic with Ultrasound services, Post-Natal and a Clinic/ Neonatal Follow up Clinic.

Other services to be offered will include Radiology MRI, CT, X-rays, Laboratory, Pharmacy and several others.
Dr. Anthony reminded those in attendance that the huge investment is intended to reduce maternal and child mortality rates in Guyana, improve access to quality diagnostic services and reduce the need for travelling abroad for quality health care.

Meanwhile, President Ali in his address said that the hospital project is being built in accordance with the FedEx yellow book standard a very high standard used by many international agencies. As it relates to the finance he stated, “Let me pause to acknowledge the UK Ambassador (Jane Miller) because this is the first ever project to be financed by the United Kingdom Export Finance Credit Agency”.

Kaieteur News had raised questions as to why such a costly project was not put for a national tender but sole sourced. Advisor to the Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy had confirmed that indeed the contract was not tendered for and called it “a special one”. His exact words were, “This was a special project, a European Union (EU) project. It’s an Austrian firm that will do the work”.