Govt hires over 3000 new healthcare professionals to boost service delivery

…Guyana now leads region in telemedicine, digital health

As the healthcare sector continues to expand with the opening up of six new regional hospitals across the country, the Guyana Government has recruited more than 3000 health professionals to service these facilities.

This was revealed by President Dr Irfaan Ali on Wednesday evening as he presented his Administration’s blueprint to fast-track the country’s transformation and generate wealth for the Guyanese people during this term in office.
By 2028, the Government is planning to operationalise 12 state-of-the-art regional hospitals, delivering world-class healthcare services to residents in Regions One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Eight, and Nine.
Already, six of these hospitals have been completed at Lima, Region Two; De Kinderen, Region Three; Enmore, Region Four; Diamond, also in Region Four; Bath, Region Five; and No. 75, Region Six.
The President had made it clear that he would not be accepting any excuses when it comes to fully staffing these new hospitals and other medical facilities that are being built out across the country.

Filling the gaps
Noting that the human resources gaps in the medical field need to be fixed in the short term as Guyana builds its own cohort of healthcare professionals, the Head of State had instructed the Health Ministry to seek the needed skills from overseas.
In fact, Guyana has turned to India for personnel to fill gaps within the healthcare sector. Only in July, a New Delhi-based recruitment firm – Ansari Manpower Overseas Consultant – published an advertisement inviting male and female nurses in India to work at Government hospitals in Guyana.
Meanwhile, the Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr Amit Telang, had told the Guyana Times in October that his country is ready to supply the skilled personnel needed for the local health sector, from technicians and nurses to doctors.
“So, as and when there is a requirement, I think the Government of Guyana through the High Commission in Delhi is also looking at the possibility of getting skilled manpower,” Dr Telang had stated.
The diplomat had indicated too that there is already an increasing number of Indian healthcare workers in Guyana.
“We are aware of this because we have noticed that in terms of the Indians who are coming to us to avail of the consular services, like renewing their passports and other things, attestation of documents. So, we have definitely seen over the last couple of months, the number of people who are coming from India has increased. And most of them, I think, are in the disciplines like healthcare… So, that’s how we gauge that these are the areas in which there is a requirement, and more and more people, the skilled personnel from India, are coming,” the High Commissioner previously explained.
Additionally, only recently, a total of 508 nursing assistants from Regions One to Ten graduated from the Ministry of Health’s Hybrid Nursing Assistant Training Programme, a pioneering initiative designed to strengthen Guyana’s healthcare workforce.

Telemedicine networks
Meanwhile, as the Guyana Government seeks to move towards a modern and technology-driven health system, service delivery has been advanced across the country through the revolutionary telemedicine programme.
Currently, Guyana has one of the most extensive telemedicine networks, with some 81 telemedicine sites across the country, with plans to add another 50 sites in the coming months.
According to President Ali, this digital health initiative positions Guyana as a regional leader.
“…we are now the leader in telemedicine in this region,” he declared.

“In health, we are not only building new state-of-the-art facilities, but we are also re-engineering the entire health system around the goal of providing world-class service to Guyanese people,” the Guyanese leader added.
These efforts include the development of an electronic inventory management system to track the movement and availability of drug supplies across the entire system.
“This will help to ensure that adequate levels of drugs and medical supplies are readily available at public health facilities countrywide, thereby minimising bottlenecks and delays and wastage. And with this system, we will be able to track professionals who are not doing their jobs and hold them accountable wherever there is wastage, bottlenecks or delays in the provision of these services,” he stated.
Further, the Government is working on rolling out a national health records platform, deploying an electronic appointment system, and deploying artificial intelligence (AI) to strengthen health services all across the country.
He contended that “access to health must not be on the basis of who you know, who you’re related to, or where you come from. It must be system-based, and that is what we are doing – deploying AI to strengthen health services all across the country that is system based. This means that every Guyanese can go anywhere in Guyana and receive consistent quality care in a timely manner.”
Only recently, the Digital Health Training Institute was launched – a three-year programme designed to prepare technicians, data scientists, trainers and digital support staff to operate Guyana’s digital health technology system.
Moreover, the Government is working with international partners such as the United States-based Mount Sinai Health System and Hess Corporation to establish a modern oncology centre here to enhance the cancer treatment and care.
In the first phase, this facility will expand access to cancer screening, diagnostics and treatment options, while in the second phase, it will offer advanced tertiary oncology services.
President Ali went on to state that his administration’s investments in the health sector will also position Guyana to be a biotechnology research hub within the next five years.
“We will construct a life sciences park that will provide for, among other things, biobank storage, facilities for diagnostics, drugs and vaccine manufacturing, capabilities for clinical trials, the establishment of a Tropical Medicine Institute, data warehouse development with analytics and AI for the life sciences.”
“In the next five years, whether you live on the coast or in the hinterland, you will be able to visit a health facility and receive first-class care from diagnosis to treatment, including timely access to the drugs and medical supplies you need, supported by cutting-edge technology, delivered by Guyanese health professionals who were trained right here at home,” the Head of State declared.