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Guyana looking to India to train, supply personnel for new hospitals – Jagdeo
Kaieteur News – With several new hospitals slated to be constructed countrywide, Guyana is looking to India to get health personnel trained as well as personnel to manage the operations of these new institutions when completed. This is according to Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo who made the announcement during a press conference on Friday.
Jagdeo, who recently returned from an official visit to India, said yesterday that during his visit, he met with the country’s Health and Family Welfare Minister, Manskh Mandaviya where they discussed various issues of bilateral importance in the health sector.
“We met with the Minister of Health, as you know, we are building 12 new hospitals this year. We have to get the people to manage these hospitals and to staff them, India can help in this regard to not only supply people but also train a lot of Guyanese at the requisite level to manage these hospitals that we would have,” he told representatives of the media.
According to Jagdeo with the construction of the hospitals, the country would probably need 1500 to 2000 persons to carry out the functions of these facilities. India has been engaged, in this regard.
He noted too that Guyana needs a more electronic technical way of managing these hospitals through patient records system, which means implementing new systems for the entire country. According to the VP, “India has done this well in many areas and cheaply, compared to many of the proposals that are commercial in nature.”
Health and Family Welfare Minister of India, Mansukh Mandaviya meeting with Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo last week in India. (Photo courtesy, Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo)
“So we are hoping that they would assist in these areas too,” he added.
Seven new hospitals across the country are scheduled for construction. Already works have started in preparation for their construction. Kaieteur News had reported that the government intends to build six new regional health facilities and a paediatric and maternal hospital.
The construction of the six modern regional hospitals will be in Anna Regina, Tuschen, Diamond, Enmore, Bath and No. 75 Village, Corentyne, while the paediatric facility will be at Ogle, East Coast Demerara (ECD).
Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony during his budget debate presentation in 2022 had explained that the government’s decision to build the new facilities is in keeping with the population size in the identified regions and the need for residents to have easy access to healthcare services.
Dr. Anthony said that a hospital will be in Anna Regina because it is the most populated area in Region Two. “Why should they not have a hospital there? That is what we are addressing, so we will be putting that hospital in Anna Regina,” the minister had argued.
Similarly, he said, because villages like Tuschen and Parika in Region Three are becoming more populated, it was decided that another regional hospital will be built in that district to provide services for all.
As for Region Four, the Minister stated that two new regional hospitals will be built, one at Enmore, ECD and the other at Diamond, East Bank Demerara (EBD). He had highlighted that the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) has always been seen as the National Referral Hospital but sometimes be referred to as a regional hospital in the region. “We want to change that. We want to ensure that Georgetown Public Hospital remains a National Referral hospital and do the complicated cases,” he said.
Dr. Anthony had also mentioned that the decision to build a hospital at Bath Settlement in Region Five is because it is where the majority of the population in that region resides. While in Region Six, the government intends to construct a new facility at N0.75 Village to add to the range of services provided at the Skeldon Hospital.
The Minister had disclosed that in addition to these new facilities, each one will be equipped with their own CT scans, digital X-rays, ultra sound machines and modernised laboratories and that all devices will be internet enabled.
According to him, the reason behind all this “is that people would not have to travel from all parts of the country to come to Georgetown to get access to these things.”
Meanwhile, regarding the maternal and child hospital, Dr. Anthony said it will cater to all the high-risk mothers and children as well as provide specialist care to those using the service.
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