Misinformation about rented hotel rooms by Health Ministry

Dear Editor,
In its continuing campaign of disseminating false information and serving the role of an anti-Government mouthpiece, the Kaieteur News (KN) published a story on March 10 with patently false information. The Ministry of Health (MoH), therefore, takes this opportunity to correct the false information peddled by the KN.
In its publication, it reported that the MoH has rented hotel rooms since December 2022, at a cost of almost $75 million for students in training. The MoH has rented rooms from Jaigobin Hotel in Region 2, but the cost stated by KN is not nearly the cost reported in the newspaper. The MoH has rented 11 rooms at a cost of $1.1 million per month and has so far paid $16.5 million. The sum stated in the KN is mischievous and is overstated by about 78 per cent. The MoH is not paying regular rates for these hotel rooms.
When the need arose for renting additional housing space, quotations were obtained from local hotels and facilities, and the MoH was able to complete satisfactory arrangements with Jaigobin’s Hotel.
Since assuming office in August 2020, the PPP Government has been transforming the health sector. In addition to the massive physical and technological infrastructure and a significantly expanded package of services across the country, the Ministry of Health and the Government of Guyana, working with the Public Service Ministry, the Ministry of Local Government, the GPHC and the 10 Regional Health Services Departments in the RDCs have been implementing an aggressive human resource for health (HRH) development programme.
The training programme includes training at the highest levels, such as specialist doctors and nurses and management and leadership programmes to provide support for several allied health areas. Not only are these training programmes conducted centrally in Georgetown at GPHC and the Nursing Schools in Georgetown, New Amsterdam and Linden, but a number of the allied health training are now conducted at the local level with instructors from Georgetown, other regions, and from the local training centre areas.
In Region Two, a number of on-site, locally-conducted training programmes started in 2022. In December 2022, arrangements were made to train 22 pharmacy assistants to help support the Region Two pharmacy service, including at Suddie and Charity Hospitals. These 22 pharmacy assistants have since graduated. There are presently 48 nursing assistants, 19 post-basic midwifery and 22 laboratory assistant students in training in Region Two presently. Among the students in the Region Two-located training programmes are also students from Region One.
Similar programmes are being done in all regions.
These locally-conducted training programmes are in addition to the centrally-conducted programmes, such as the 1200 students registered in the centrally-led hybrid programmes for registered nurses and nursing assistants, more than 250 post-graduate specialist residency training at GPHC and several dozen being trained online through international universities. These training programmes do not include students presently studying abroad. While the MoH has expanded the traditional training programmes, there are also new programmes that have been added and those that are coming on stream.
Clearly, some of these training programmes require the MoH and the local health departments to provide housing for students who come from distant places. In the case of Region Two, some of these students are accommodated at the Jaigobin Hotel facilities at a considerably reduced cost that the MoH negotiated.
It is noteworthy that at present in the Suddie Hospital Compound, a new training centre is being constructed that would provide classroom and dormitory accommodation for the students who are being trained in Region Two. Construction is due to be completed in the first quarter of 2025.
The MoH could not wait until construction was completed and, therefore, embarked on renting facilities to accommodate those students who require local accommodation.
Outside of ensuring that the health sector benefits from improved and expanded human resources for health, the programme also empowers young people with skills and employment.

Sincerely,
Ministry of Health
Public Relations/Health Promotion Unit