Union Vice President new GPHC Director

Board reshuffle

The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) has had its board reconfigured for the second time this year, this time replacing the representative of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU).
According to an order gazetted on June 9, First Vice President of the GPSU, Dawn Gardner, has been appointed as a director on the board of directors. She is replacing the previous union representative, Kemton Alexander.
The remaining members of the board are Chairperson Kesaundra Alves, Dr. Holly Alexander, Collette Adams, Sonya Roopnauth and Cleopatra Barkoye. They will serve until January 31, 2019.
GPHC has been facing several challenges over the past few months, including a medical malpractice lawsuit. This publication reported only days ago that two patients who were discharged from the hospital on Thursday have alleged that they were infected by doctors at the hospital, and have even accused the doctors of being ignorant.
Jummal Pinder, a 22-year-old East Bank Demerara businessman, was involved in an accident on April 15 last, after a blow-out caused him to lose control of the car in which he was travelling, and it swerved off the road and eventually flipped, causing him to sustain a broken hip and leg, along with several bruises to his face and body.
Pinder said he was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), and was hospitalised for about three weeks. Doctors at the GPHC inserted steel in his leg in a surgery. However, a few days later, the leg became swollen and started to ooze. He was treated with antibiotics and sent away.

He returned last Wednesday for a check-up, but was again sent away.
Last Saturday, while experiencing excruciating pain, a high temperature and vomiting, he revisited the GPHC and was admitted at patient.
While his condition is improving, he is upset at the way the doctors had handled his matter, since he believes he could have lost his leg because of their negligence.
Another patient, a 34-year-old who hails from North Ruimveldt, Georgetown, was also involved in an accident on March 10 last, when he was struck off his motorcycle by a car that had made a sudden turn.
The father of one said he was taken to the hospital by the driver, and was treated and sent away.
He said that while he was at home, his foot was developing an infection, which caused him to visit the GPHC on Monday last. He claims that the nurses sent him away, telling him they had a lot of work to do, and his clinic day was on Wednesday.
The man complained that his foot had already developed an abscess, which burst on Tuesday and started bleeding.
He said that before the doctors had inserted the screws into his foot, his bones were together in the X-ray test, but after they had operated on the foot again, the bone separated. He said the doctors did the surgery, but his condition worsened.
With problems pertaining to medical ethics and quality of service, it will be up to the board to turn the hospital’s standards around.