Govt recruiting global healthcare workers amid persistent labour shortage

…push to maintain quality care amid rollout of new hospitals

The government of Guyana has announced that it is actively recruiting healthcare workers from across the globe to address persistent shortages in the sector, particularly as the country prepares to open several new state-of-the-art hospitals in the coming months.
The recruitment strategy includes nursing assistants, general medical staff, and specialists in various disciplines.
Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo confirmed the initiative on Thursday, noting that the government is casting a wide international net in search of qualified personnel, including but not limited to Cuban healthcare workers.
“We are recruiting from around the world,” the vice president explained, “…we could have more people from other countries, much more than from Cuba. The idea is to get our own people to work in the hospitals. So, we’re recruiting nursing assistants and a whole range of people to do that, to do the work. But right now, we don’t have enough healthcare personnel to offer the expanded level of services that will come through the opening of these new hospitals.”
As the government fast-tracks its hospital modernisation programme, a widening gap between infrastructure and human resources has become evident. The shortage of skilled personnel threatens to slow or weaken service delivery, especially in rural and hinterland regions where healthcare access is already limited.
In fact, the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) alone is facing an escalating shortage, needing an estimated 700 more nurses to ensure adequate patient care and maintain essential operations. This shortage has led to concerns about the ability of hospitals to provide services, especially in departments like the Accident and Emergency unit.
With this in mind, the vice president assured that while governing is welcoming foreign medical professionals to meet immediate demand, the administration’s strategy is not a permanent replacement for local talent.
“As we train more of our people, then we can fill the posts with our own people. That is the idea. But we don’t want the service to suffer because of the shortage of Guyanese healthcare professionals. We want a good quality service until we can fill those positions with our own people. And so, that is the approach to that matter,” Jagdeo added.
Addressing concerns related to the employment of Cuban healthcare workers and U.S. human rights conditions, the vice president made it clear that Guyana will ensure full compliance with international labour norms.
“So, we’re recruiting people from around the world, not confined to Cuba. But we’re working to ensure that the people who come here from Cuba, that they meet the definition because of what the U.S. Secretary of State mentioned, that the conditions of work here don’t run afoul of the requirements set by the United States of America,” he assured.
Back in March, the US expanded an existing Cuba-related visa restriction policy that targets forced labour linked to the Cuban labour export programme. This decision will see visa restrictions placed on state officials believed to be involved in the export of Cuban workers – a move that has been strongly criticised by some Caribbean leaders.