Govt. to acquire another cardiac Cath. Lab for GPHC

Apr 21, 2024 News

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Kaieteur News – The government is in the process of acquiring another Catheterization Laboratory (Cath Lab) for the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Robbie Rambarran said on Saturday.

The CEO was at the time delivering brief remarks at GPHC’s second annual Cardiology Symposium held at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre, Liliendaal.

Speaking of the strides made in the hospital’s Cardiology Department over the years, the CEO made mention of the substantial investment in cutting edge equipment used to improve the capabilities of hospital’s cardiology department.

“These investments will undoubtedly elevate our capacity to diagnose and treat complex cardiovascular conditions benefiting patients across Guyana,” he said as he announced plans for another Catheterization Laboratory.

In highlighting the immense achievement of the department, Rambarran said that in 2023, the Cardiology Department witnessed a remarkable influx of patients seeking care with a total of 2538 cardiology scans conducted. He noted that the team performed 14,249 echocardiograms, 220 stress tests, 616 angiograms, 286 stents replacement, and 49 pacemakers’ implants, underscoring the comprehensive range of cardiovascular intervention offered at the facility.

The CEO said also that the investment in training and education has been instrumental in enhancing the capacity of staff and improving patient outcomes.

“Last year, we witnessed the graduation of six nurses from the inaugural batch of cardiovascular nurses’ degree programme among with two technicians who acquire a post-graduate diploma in echocardiography through the GPHC Institute of Health Science Education and the University of Guyana,” Rambarran revealed.

In addition, he said 20 of the hospital’s nurses completed the Congenital Heart Disease training curriculum. This, he said, is testament to enhancing their skills and knowledge in specialized areas of cardiology care.

According to the CEO, at present, they have a group of eight nursing assistants ongoing specialized ECG training and two technicians undergoing intensive training in echo-sonography with the aim of transitioning to a technician within the cardiology department.

“These training areas are made possible through Guyana Project for Advanced Cardiac Care (GPAC), a testament to our ongoing commitment to investing in the professional development of health care workforce by equipping our staff with the necessary skills and expertise. We are not only enhancing the quality of care we provide, but also empowering our team to meet the evolution needs of our patient,” he related.

Kaieteur News understands that after the reactivation of the partnership with the GPHC and Gift of Life International, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) dedicated to providing lifesaving cardiac cares to countries like Guyana, the hospital was able to facilitate 18 paediatric cardiac surgeries over the course of two missions in 2023. This year saw eight complex cardiology cardiac surgeries being done so far, with two more missions expected to be completed within the year.

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony in his address at the symposium said that presently, cardiac services are reaching more persons through the introduction of telemedicine in remote areas.

Dr. Anthony said that the country adopted the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) HEARTS protocol. The minister shared that this is helping to provide better cardiovascular care to patients while disclosing that the HEARTS protocol or guidelines are being implemented in 171 different health centers across the country.

In addition, using these guidelines, they have been able to introduce new medication that are more effective and would lead to better control of various cardiovascular conditions.

“One of the challenges that we still have is that while we have introduced this programme, we have seen that there is still a need for better compliance of our patients. So we have medicines, we have people who are following guidelines, the challenge now is to make sure that we get our patients to comply so that we can see better outcomes,” the minister shared while noting that through the symposium it is hoped that patient compliance can be addressed.

Meanwhile, the minister said that through its collaboration with Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, a team from GPHC will develop national guidelines for cardiovascular care to be able to standardise guidelines across the health sector.

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• cardiac, Dr. Frank Anthony, GPHC’s Chief Executive Officer, Minister of Health, Robbie Rambarran

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