Despite the recent confirmation by the Public Health Minister that the Maternity Ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital would be completed by the end of June, its completion has been further pushed to mid July for
Dr George Norton
undisclosed reasons.
Initially, it had been articulated that the building would be completed by May, but construction was hindered by the inability of the contractors to procure building materials for specific parts of the Ward. Subsequent to these materials being imported into the country, the Minister had informed that the contractors had resumed their work and would be working to have the structure ready by the end of June.
However, during an interview with Guyana Times on Monday, Public Health Minister, Dr George Norton informed that the building was yet to be completed. He said that construction was in its final phase and the deadline had been set at the middle of this month.
According to the information received, the Public Health Ministry had met with the contractors after the structure had not been completed by the initial deadline. After discussions, an agreement was made with the Ministry that the Ward would be finished in the aforementioned timeframe.
Meanwhile, work is presently being done on the upper flat of the building, which will house the Neo-Natal intensive Care Unit and the pre- and post-natal Wards.
Special materials had been shipped in recently to begin the construction of these sections. The Minister stated that this had presented some difficulty and contributed to the overall setback.
According to Dr Norton, while the upper flat is being completed, the lower flat has already been put into use. He noted that as the space in the current Maternity Ward had begun to decline, the Ministry made the decision to move the offices in the old Maternity Ward to the completed lower flat of the new building. This has reportedly helped significantly with the overcrowding problem, since more than 50 beds were placed in the older Ward with the relocation of the offices.
The Health Minister said that this would serve as a temporary solution while the expansion of the building was concluding.
After a number of years of complaints by the general public about the state of the Maternity Ward, the current Government, after taking office, had commenced plans to complete the new building.
The call for the Ward to be completed had been amplified as images of a mother nursing her newborn under a hospital bed surfaced.
Since then, the Ministry had been working to have the new building completed in the shortest time possible. The Minister said that this would ensure that “doubling up” and “congestion” would be a thing of the past.
