$6.6B Bath Regional Hospital commissioned

Jul 31, 2025 News

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Kaieteur News – Residents of Region Five, for the first time, will be able to access dialysis and CT scan services closer to home, as a new $6.6 billion regional hospital was commissioned on Wednesday at Bath Settlement.

Commissioning the state-of-the-art edifice was President Irfaan Ali and Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, who were joined by a number of government and health officials, nurses and residents at the hospital’s compound.

President Ali noted that the hospital is second-to-none and that the services will be extended to the wider Caribbean region. “We have made it very clear that the prosperity of Guyana must lead to the prosperity of the region,” the head of state stated.

 

According to the president, “This facility by itself is a testament to a government that is developing our country to remove inequality, to improve services across the board, and to bring parity with those who can afford it from the private hospitals and those who will also get the same level of service from a public hospital.”

With more than $15 billion spent to upgrade health facilities across the hospital, the president said his government is executing these projects to allow easy access to enhanced healthcare services.

He noted that the government plans on rolling out a number of health programmes to improve patient and staff experiences at the facilities. This, he said, is part of the vision of building a world-class healthcare system for all citizens.

Meanwhile, Minister Anthony said this is yet another milestone in Guyana’s journey towards building a world class healthcare system, noting that the transformation is being led by President Ali.

“Mr. president, we have seen a transformation of our country led by you over the last couple of years, and your leadership reminds us that real development is not measured only in economic growth, but in health, in safety and in dignity of our people. The investments you have championed in the area of health, in digital health, in modern hospitals, in new health centers, in public private partnerships have all been preparing Guyana to meet its needs now and for the future, and you are positioning our country as the health care leader of the Caribbean and beyond,” the health minister said.

Relating what could be expected from the new hospital, the minister said the facility has 75 inpatient beds, 24-hour accident and emergency service, a department for medical imaging which include ultrasound, X-rays, and for the first time in Region Five, a CT scanner. There will also be 24-hour pharmacy and laboratory services.

The minister explained that the region had two hospitals when the PPP assumed office in 2020–Mahaicony and Fort Wellington, which were functioning in a sub-optimal way.

“Mahaicony hospital, for example, did not have enough space in the outpatient department so that patients would be able to stay there. We did not have a modern accident and emergency, and Mahaicony did not have a proper operating theatre. We also did not have at that hospital, a functioning X-ray machine. When you come to Fort Wellington, while we had a number of inpatient beds, we had a small accident and emergency. I recall that when I went to visit and look at the x-ray that was in Fort Wellington hospital, that X ray machine was more than 25 years or so old. And worse than that, if per chance you touch certain areas of that machine, you could get an electric shock, and that was the state of what we took over.”

He said when they took up government, they were able to put in a brand-new Siemens X-ray machine at both hospitals to service the people in the region. Additionally, he said minimal surgical services were being provided and that patients had to be transferred to New Amsterdam or Georgetown.

With the new hospital, those, and other services will be facilitated. The facility also has on site a modern oxygen plant that will generate oxygen for the hospital.

The minister said that for the first time the region has access to dialysis services, as two new units are at the Bath hospital.

“We would also have a modern birthing suite at this hospital, so that anyone who wants to give birth here would have a safe delivery in this hospital. We also have, in this facility, for the first time in this region, a modern ICU care unit, and in that unit, we have three beds for the patients who would be coming here. We also have a step-down unit, a two-bed Step down unit, so if you’re not sick enough to be in the ICU, but you’re sicker than what we need in the regular ward, you’ll be able to go to this step-down unit and get the best care possible,” he related.

Addressing staff who will be employed there, Minister Anthony urged them to provide good services. “You know, one of the thing that we need to do, because when people come to us in any one of our medical institutions is people are coming when they are most vulnerable, and we want to ensure that when people come to us, that we treat them with compassion and we treat them with empathy, so that We are contributing to them getting healed faster,” he said.

As for the residents, he added “I also want to say to the people of Region Five, this is your institution, and we want you to take care of it.”

The hospital was built by the China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation, Sinopharm, and is classified as a level four hospital, eliminating the need for individuals to be referred to hospitals in Georgetown or New Amsterdam. The Bath hospital is one of the six new regional hospitals, the government will be commissioning this year.

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• Bath Hospital, CT scan, Frank Anthony, President Irfaan Ali

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