Sod turned for $2B multi-specialty hospital on Essequibo Coast

President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali joined regional officials and Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony on Friday for the ceremonial sod-turning for the construction of a new $2 billion multi-specialty hospital at Suddie, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).

The Head of State said the new hospital will form part of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government’s wider agenda of revolutionising the quality of healthcare in Guyana.
“Here, today, we are part of a process that will see not only a new building but 250-plus beds here in Region Two. It would see an ICU [Intensive Care Unit], a complete ICU in this hospital… We are very, very confident that this would add great value to the healthcare system here in Region Two,” President Ali stated.
He went on to note that his Government is creating a network connecting health centres, outposts and hospitals, so that they would all be more equipped to provide a high quality of service even in remote communities.
Meanwhile, Minister Anthony explained that the hospital is being funded by a loan from the Export/Import (EXIM) Bank of India.
“It took a lot of work to start getting these projects moving, and within a very, very short period of time, we have been able to meet all the benchmarks that were set by the EXIM Bank of India, and other partners to be able to get to this point,” he stated.

According to the Minister, a team came from India about three weeks ago, and visited multiple hospital sites.
“They were at West Demerara, they came here to Suddie, and they went up to Bartica. And based on what they saw on the ground, they had given us several options of what we can do. At Suddie, they have proposed a structure that we can build here. And so, we have taken that advice, and we’ll be moving ahead with the construction of this hospital right here,” he noted.
The Health Minister said the multi-specialty hospital must provide a better service.
“The ambience of the hospital must be one that is modern, that would promote healing, and that was the directive that was given by His Excellency, when we met to review how we’re going to modernise the infrastructure across this country.”
He said when the PPP/C Government came to office, it did so with a vision to modernise healthcare, and that this multi-specialty hospital will transform the way healthcare is delivered in Region Two.
Also present at Friday’s ceremony were Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh; Public Works Minister, Bishop Juan Edghill; Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd and Local Government and Regional Development Minister Nigel Dharamlall.
This project to upgrade the three primary healthcare facilities across Guyana is being funded with monies that were initially earmarked for the construction of a Specialty Hospital in Guyana.
The Donald Ramotar Administration had secured US$18 million from the India EXIM Bank via a line of credit (LOC) back in 2012 but two years later terminated its contract with India-based company, Surendra Engineering Corporation Limited citing instances of alleged fraud and delays.
While in Opposition, both the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC), before they collated, had strongly opposed the project and upon their assumption to office in 2015, decided to scrap the Specialty Hospital project, which had already expended some US$4 million on certain preliminary works. The coalition Government then approached India to divert the remaining $13.8 million towards improving the country’s primary healthcare service by upgrading three public hospitals across the country.