The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) has officially launched eCARE, an electronic health record (EHR) system that will eliminate repeated paperwork and improve coordination of care within the country’s largest referral hospital.
The system went live this week, and according to GPHC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Robbie Rambarran, it represents more than just a technological shift—it is a fundamental reimagining of how care is delivered.
“This is more than just a technology change,” Rambarran said in a video statement Friday. He said that it is a transformation in the way care is delivered, with greater accountability, transparency and efficiency.
With eCARE, every patient will now have a single electronic medical file that follows them throughout the hospital, regardless of which department or speciality they are treated in. This single source of truth will replace the burden of filling out forms at every visit, while reducing delays, streamlining clinical workflows and allowing healthcare teams to collaborate in real time.
The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC)
The launch of eCARE at GPHC marks a major milestone in a long-anticipated national project to digitise Guyana’s public health infrastructure. In fact, this development comes almost three years to the date since Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony publicly committed to rolling out a digital medical record system across the country. That pledge was made in December 2022, during the launch of a nursing programme in Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), where Dr Anthony described the use of paper-based records as outdated and inefficient. At the time, he explained that the Government would introduce electronic health records across health centres and hospitals within three years, a plan that is now materialising. Back then, the vision was for every patient entering the public health system to be assigned a unique identifier, allowing healthcare providers to instantly pull up their history, imaging, prescriptions, allergies, and test results from any facility. The aim was to reduce waiting times, improve the quality of diagnoses and ensure better continuity of care across the system.
Dr Anthony also spoke about the need to pass the necessary legislation to protect patient data, a prerequisite that has since been fulfilled with the passage of the Data Protection Act, which now provides legal safeguards to ensure the security and privacy of health information in the new digital ecosystem.
Since that 2022 announcement, several behind-the-scenes developments have taken place. A working group within the Ministry of Health was tasked with designing the technical framework for the system and international partners, including experts from Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, were brought in to advise on its structure and rollout.
By March 2025, the Government had secured a US$3.3 million contract with health tech provider RioMed Limited to deliver the software and manage the phased implementation. The first phase began at GPHC and its satellite clinics, with plans to gradually extend the system to every public health facility across Guyana.
The long-term goal is to create a unified, countrywide electronic health record system where patient data can be securely accessed by authorised professionals anywhere in the public healthcare network. Training for doctors, nurses and pharmacists is already underway, as institutions prepare for the transition from handwritten charts to digital platforms.
With eCARE now active at the country’s flagship hospital, Guyana has entered a new chapter in public health service delivery, one that reflects both technological progress and a fulfilment of a promise made three years ago.
