New maternal, child centre to boost health care for pregnant women

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony on Wednesday commissioned the first maternal and child health district centre in Moruca, Region One (Barima-Waini).
During the commissioning ceremony, Dr Anthony disclosed that an adequate amount of waiting rooms were constructed at the facility to facilitate mothers’ access to the hospital, ensuring safer births and reducing complications.
This, he noted, is part of efforts to ensure maternal mortality rates in the sub-region remain low and pregnant women receive proper care, especially when in labour.

“We want the services to be equal across the country, and that’s what we’re working towards… Among the things we were looking at if people stay in the villages and they have to travel when they get into labour to come to the facility, that can create a problem, because, very often in the past, people might give birth along the way and it might not be in the best environment,” Dr Anthony noted.
The facility is currently staffed by individuals residing in the Moruca sub-region, and has already been equipped to fulfil its purpose.
Meanwhile, engineers from the Health Ministry have already commenced work on the design of a modern hospital that is expected to be constructed in Moruca.
While in the sub-region, Dr Anthony and other officials from the Health Ministry visited the site of the hospital – 10 acres of land that was provided to the Government by the Moruca Village Council.

Upon the completion of the design process, the next step will involve commencing the tendering process for the hospital’s construction. The project is expected to be completed within 24 to 36 months after the contract is awarded, so that the populace of the sub-region may reap the benefits.
The state-of-the-art medical facility will feature inpatient beds, surgical theatres, an outpatient facility with several different clinics, and an accident and emergency unit that will work on a 24-hour basis.
According to Dr Anthony, the completed hospital will bring convenience and improved services to the local population among other advantages.
“Very soon, the days when you had to travel out and go to Suddie hospital or go somewhere else, those days are going to be finished once we build the new hospital. This is the kind of improvement that we want to bring in your community…that’s the objective to make sure that accessibility to healthcare is closer to you,” the Health Minister stated.
Dr Anthony added that the Moruca hospital would also include modern equipment such as a CT scanner, as the Government continues to work towards improving healthcare accessibility.
“You will have a 24-hour modern lab, you will have imaging which we will be able to do. So, we will be able to do things like ultrasound, x-rays and there’s another special type of imaging that right now is not available to anybody in this region, because we don’t have the equipment in the region, and that’s called a CT scan…This new hospital will have a CT scan machine, and all the tests that we’ll be doing here will, of course, be free of cost,” Dr Anthony said.