Forty nurses attached to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) are now certified in speaking French and Spanish having completed a six-month foreign language programme.
Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, East Street, Georgetown
Director of Nursing, Keith Alonzo recently told the media that the programme was conducted by the Guyana Language Institute (GLI) through a collaborative effort with the GPHC with the aim of improving services at the medical facility by having qualified foreign language medical care staff.
He noted that there has been an influx of foreigners, who visit the hospital to access medical care and that this has posed great difficulty for both patients and staff due to language barriers. According to top officials of the GPHC, among the foreign nationals who visit the hospital seeking medical care are Venezuelans, Brazilians, Haitians and Cubans. Thus, the need for having staff who are able to communicate different languages apart from our official English language in order to be able to facilitate and administer accurate diagnosis and treatment to patients.
He added that the newly certified nurses will pass on their knowledge to their colleagues in the various departments of the medical facility.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GPHC, Brigadier (Ret’d) George Lewis, had stated a while back that the hospital will be tackling issues and difficulties which it has been facing through offering various training programmes to healthcare workers which will benefit them in several ways including professionalism, behaviour, attitude, knowledge among others, with the hope of eliminating many of these problems.
