Patient referrals dip by 44% in Reg 1 as local healthcare access is improved – Dr Anthony

Improved healthcare services in Region One (Barima-Waini) have resulted in a 44 per cent reduction in patient referrals to Georgetown and other regions for medical care.
This was according to Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony whose ministry spearheaded numerous initiatives aimed at decentralizing healthcare, ensuring that residents of the Region can access advanced medical services closer to home.
These efforts have included upgrading regional hospitals, equipping health facilities with modern diagnostic tools, and increasing the availability of medical specialists in the region.
During his address at the sod-turning ceremony for the $4.4 billion Moruca Regional Hospital, Dr Anthony revealed that the development of surgical theatres and execution of surgeries played a crucial role in the 44 per cent reduction.
On this point, he disclosed that 283 surgeries across the various categories have already been conducted this year.
“This is what development looks like. No longer do you have to go there because we have dropped the services we do here in this region? This whole hospital, we refurbish it. We put in a new accident and emergency. We put in a new maternity ward. We put in a new theatre.
We add an X-ray unit. So, for the first time in the history of this community, you can get X-rays done in this community hospital. And even though only one or two x-rays, we already get close to 2,000 x-rays using this machine here,” the Minister said.
Reflecting on the early stages of reforming the healthcare system in the region, Dr Anthony noted that significant improvements were made to the Mabaruma Regional Hospital, which was “struggling to provide essential services”.
He explained that the hospital’s operating theatre was not functioning properly, and there was no dedicated recovery room for patients, while basic infrastructure and functions were lacking, making it difficult to meet the needs of the community.
The Minister added that at the time, the region was home to 46 health facilities, but three of them were housed in makeshift quarters, such as teacher’s housing and many of the health centres and posts inherited during this period lacked basic amenities, including proper waiting areas.
Anthony boasts that today, the region houses some 56 health facilities.
“Today, we have 56 health facilities in your region. And so, for your community, the communities across Region 1, where you have about 82 communities, we now have health facilities in 56 of them. By the end of this year, which is not so long from now, we intend to put together and make sure that another six facilities are operational so that you can have more access to health care services. We are looking at adding next year an additional 12 more facilities so that people in the most remote areas of this region can have access. But it’s not only that. When we came in, we recognized that many of the facilities under the APNU did not have any healthcare workers,” he added.
Further, the Health Minister highlighted under the previous government, there were only 69 nurses spread across the entire region. Today, an additional 123 nurses have been trained bringing the total to 192.
“In addition to that, we have been training people to become medics. So you are going to have six new medics that are coming back into your region. We have trained people to offer laboratory services. We have trained people from your region to be dentists. And of course, we train community health workers. Next month, we are going to graduate another 84 health workers in different areas. And next year, because these are already in training, by next year, you will have another 211 persons who will be graduating and working in your region. In addition to all of that, we are going to open up the application process so that we can have more young women and young men who are interested in nursing come and do the registered nursing program. We are looking for at least 600 more people that we can train in nursing,” Dr Anthony related.