As works are underway to improve the efficiency of the medical system in Guyana, the Diamond hospital, along with CC Nicholson Hospital, is set to undergo a number of upgrades which will see the institutions being transformed, the latter into a regional hospital.
This is to lighten the current burden being placed on the Georgetown Public Hospital, which is currently the country’s sole referral hospital.
During a recent meeting with Councillors attached to the Region Four Regional Democratic Council (RDC) at its Triumph, East Coast Demerara head office, Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence revealed the two-year multimillion-dollar transformation plan, which was slated to commence as early as next year.
In doing so, Lawrence highlighted that the enhancement initiative would be backed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) along with funding from the local treasury.
Continuing in her presentation, the Minister explained that while the initiative was still in its “embryonic stage”, the upgrading of the two health institutions was necessary to help remove some over-work from the Georgetown Public Hospital as well as to minimise the likelihood of errors made by fatigued hospital staff and enable better daily management of the tertiary health institution.
This was as she alluded to past incidents of overcrowding and exhaustion of staff at the Georgetown medical institution, indicating that the facility attends to some 30,000 patients on a yearly basis and has seen a decline in the number of beds from a high of some 1800 to only 440 currently.
With that, she noted, “It is a well-known fact that the GPHC is over-run by patients from all 10 Administrative Regions.”
“Because of these shortcomings, the [Ministry of Public Health] MoPH thinks it is prudent to upgrade the two primary health institutions on the East Coast (CC Nicholson Hospital) and East Bank [Regional Hospital also known as the Diamond Diagnostic Centre] to cater for victims of road accidents, violent crimes, domestic and intimate partner violence and other types of crimes in Region Four, which boasts the highest figure in every category of violence.”
Adding to that, Lawrence underlined that the upgrading plan aligned with the “good life” promised by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition during the 2015 elections campaign.
The impending enhancement works to the Diamond hospital and CC Nicholson Hospital, as part of the collaborative improvement plan, will see rehabilitation and expansion of the physical infrastructure, hiring of new staff as well as other key planks under the health accord to have the two medical institutions “running on a 24-hour basis”, with the capacity of an official regional hospital.
“We want to ensure we can provide the level of service at the two primary institutions so that patients don’t have to be pronounced dead on arrival (DOA) at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC),” Lawrence outlined.
