PNC-led M&CC neglecting health facilities in G/town – Health Minister

In a fiery address at the sod-turning ceremony for a state-of-the-art $831 million polyclinic in Kitty/Campbellville on Saturday, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony exposed the failures of the People’s National Congress (PNC)-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)-led Georgetown Mayor and City Council (GM&CC) in managing the municipality’s healthcare facilities, forcing the Central Government to intervene and rescue the system from decline.
Dr Anthony had outlined a series of investments by the Government to rehabilitate and upgrade the city’s healthcare infrastructure, noting that out of the 13-healthcare centres, only one—the Dorothy Bailey Centre—saw minor involvement from the municipal authorities.
The facilities that benefitted from the central Government’s intervention are located in Agricola, East La Penitence, David Rose, Alberttown, Lodge, Northeast La Penitence, Sophia, Dorothy Bailey, Campbellville, Industry, Kitty, and Festival City.

“For example, in the Number One Dispensary, right now we are doing over the entire facility and the Government is expending $180 million dollars to do back that facility for the people in that area. Dorothy Bailey, this year we are upgrading Dorothy Bailey which the city has, I think, one person who is at Dorothy Bailey and they’re supposed to be providing care there. But the Ministry of Health, the Government of Guyana, is going to spend $55 million dollars to upgrade that facility. And in Festival City, we now, as Robbie said, we have given it for the Georgetown Hospital to manage it. And we spent $294 million dollars to upgrade that facility, bring it to the level that it’s at, that right now it’s at,” the Health Minister revealed.
Anthony contrasted the current administration’s efforts with the previous APNU+AFC Government, stating that during its five-year tenure, no hospitals or health centres were built. In stark contrast, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has constructed 25 new health centres and health posts within just three years, in addition to managing the COVID-19 pandemic during its first two years.
The Government is now working on 14 new hospitals, with six scheduled for completion this year. According to Dr Anthony, these investments align with President Irfaan Ali’s vision for a world-class healthcare system, focusing on preventative care alongside curative treatment.
“This Government, we manage close to 380 different facilities across the country. And over the last couple of years, we have spent a lot of time upgrading all of these facilities. So, whether it’s a health post or a health centre, we have upgraded them all to make sure that patients coming to us would get better conditions, where they can wait, and where they can get their service. Every single facility in this country, we have upgraded”.
“And if we had left them under the stewardship of the city council that is led by APNU and AFC, unfortunately the care that would have been given to the residents of Georgetown would have been suboptimal. So, while the rest of the country would have been getting better care, in Georgetown, it would have been subpar,” he said.
Highlighting the Government’s commitment to community healthcare, Dr Anthony further outlined a plan to implement 115 standardised medical interventions across all health centres and health posts nationwide. These measures will improve the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases, chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes, and various forms of cancer.
“People must be able to come in and get preventative care service. I know our population don’t like to come for checkups. But we need to foster that culture of checkups because when you come and you get your checkup, if something is wrong, we pick it up early and we’ll be able to address it so that you don’t develop complications,” Anthony said.