$6.6B De Kinderen hospital opens

Aug 12, 2025 News

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Kaieteur News – President Irfaan Ali and Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony on Monday commissioned the new state-of-the-art De Kinderen Regional Hospital on the West Coast of Demerara, Region Three.

The modern facility which was built at a cost of $6.6 billion is one of six new regional hospital projects the government has undertaken in Regions Two, Three, Four, Five and Six.

In delivering the opening remarks at the ceremony, Minister Anthony said the hospital is another step forward in his government’s mission to create a world-class healthcare system for every Guyanese. “When our government, under the leadership of His Excellency President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, committed to modernise and expand healthcare, it was more than just a policy statement, it was a vision of a stronger, healthier and more equitable Guyana. Today, that vision stands before us in the form of this state-of-the-art hospital that we have here at De Kinderen,” he said.

The minister noted prior to De Kinderen, the region had two other hospitals, the West Demerara Hospital and the Leonora Cottage Hospital which are quite old. He noted that these hospitals while they have been around for years, when they do get upgraded it sometimes becomes a challenge in meeting the current demand in healthcare delivery.

“So, this hospital represents the modernisation of our health sector in Region Three. It tells the residents of Region Three that quality healthcare is your right, not a privilege, it’s your right. It also says to you that you do not have to travel far distances to get essential medical services. It means that mothers can welcome their babies in a world closer to their home. It means that sick people can come and get treatment at this hospital with dignity, and it means right here in our community, we’ll be saving quite a number of lives,” he told the gathering.

Detailing some of the new features and services, the De Kinderen Hospital would have, the health minister said there is a 24-hour Accident and Emergency Department, 24- hour-s Imaging Center (where X-rays, ultrasound and CT scans will be done), a 24-hour pharmacy and laboratory services.

The hospital also features three well equipped operating theatres, birthing suite, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), High Dependency Unit (HDC), Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). “These facilities with a high dependency unit, the intensive care, the neonatal intensive care, they would all help to provide critical care, provide services for patients in critical need. This hospital also has 75 inpatient beds, and it is a change from what we are accustomed to, because we have rooms, and in every room, there are five beds in a room, and each room is equipped with a toilet and a bath, and the room is completely air conditioned, so that when you come into the hospital, you’ll have a lot of comfort,” he stated.

Specialty clinics

Also, the De Kinderen Regional Hospital will have a lot of specialty clinics, including obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, internal medicine, orthopedics and surgery. There is also a dental department, an ophthalmology department and an audiology department, an area for sterilization of instruments, a water purification system.

President Ali announced that when the new West Demerara Hospital is completed, they will be converting the old structure to an educational institution for medical professionals. “So, this new West Demerara Hospital will be a teaching hospital with the labs attached to it so the old hospital will be converted to an educational institution for nursing, dentistry, doctors, medical education and every other thing to support a healthcare system,” he said.

According to the President, he has tasked Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand in getting data to see how many students are applying to the University of Guyana to do medicine, “and a large bulk of those students are coming from this region because of the size of this region.”

He had highlighted that outside of Region Four, Region Three is the fastest growing region in terms of population, economy, commerce, investment and in infrastructure. Not only in health infrastructure are they making the investment but also in the human capital, he said. “We have made a commitment that wherever the human capital to provide world class service in a healthcare system is absent that we will recruit that human capital from where they are available to ensure that these hospitals are not without the doctors, nurses, technicians and all other human capital that is needed to make them efficient reliable and satisfied the need of our people,” he said.

Speaking on the transformative healthcare system his government is building out, the Head-of-State revealed that have already started the planning for the building out and expansion of the Wakenaam and Leguan hospitals and each of those will have an operating theatre also with digital X-rays.

He mentioned that they are going to integrate all the clinics in the region to become state of the art primary healthcare provider of services. “In all these deep communities within the next year we will be focusing heavily on primary healthcare because we have to take care of you from birth and that is why in every community we will put a containerized primary health outpost that would allow you to monitor your sugar levels, monitor your pressure level and give us the data that is necessary to take proactive step in building a healthy population here in Region three. The healthcare system of tomorrow is not about waiting for you to feel sick to come to the hospital, it is about proactively reaching you so you can take care of yourself without having the need to go to the hospital,” the President mentioned.

In addition, he related that the government is working with its partners in designing not only a material management structure but building out a system of tracking and delivery to ensure that the drugs they are investing in are getting to patients. “We are developing a model that would allow us to know what the demands are, what the supply side of things are and how we will track this from not only the clinic level, the regional hospital level and at the national bond but how we track this down to the patient that is what we are building. And in transparency, accountability, efficiency, and reliability no longer must we have to wait on someone depending on their mood to dispense the medication or to tell us something is not there but it is in the bond at another location,” he explained.

Among other initiatives, the President said that they are building a healthcare system which would make Guyana the hub for healthcare progression, provision, healthcare training, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and being part of the global ecosystem in delivering equitable health. “Already many persons from the CARICOM region are coming to our hospitals for treatment, and we have been able to play our role in building a stronger health ecosystem in our region,” he stated.

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• CARICOM, De Kinderenl Hospital, Dr. Frank Anthony, Irfaan Ali, West Coast of Demerara

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