IN light of the ongoing construction of multiple health facilities aimed at enhancing the provision of healthcare in Guyana, the government has undertaken a comprehensive ‘manpower survey’ to evaluate the demand for qualified and skilled personnel. Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, disclosed that information during his weekly news conference on Thursday. He informed reporters that the government has initiated the recruitment and training of individuals to support the upcoming 12 hospitals, scheduled to be operational later this year and in early 2025. “When those hospitals start coming online by the end of this year and early next year…we have to have people [and] we are planning for that now. We are planning on management constantly,” the Vice President said. Recently, he had outlined the government’s master plan to transform the health sector. To this end, Jagdeo stated that new facilities are being constructed, while some existing ones are being rehabilitated. The Vice President stated that the initiative was an integral component of the government’s manifesto plans, whereby the proceeds from oil and gas will be utilised for the advancement of infrastructure, healthcare, education, support for vulnerable groups, and other sectors. “We believe if you have healthy people, educated people, if you have a diversified economy, that even in the post oil and gas era, the country will continue to do very well,” Jagdeo had said. Out of the 12 upcoming hospitals, six of them will be replacement facilities. A new hospital is being constructed by the government in Region Six, specifically at No. 75 Village. The objective of this project is to replace the existing Skeldon Hospital and enhance the range of services available to the community. Construction of a new hospital in Bath Settlement, in Region Five, is currently in progress. Furthermore, there are plans to build a regional hospital in Enmore, in Region Four. Similar healthcare facilities will also be established in regions three and two. Furthermore, there are plans to establish four hospitals in the remote regions. “Each of these hospitals will have several operating theatres and a whole range of services that current hospitals can’t provide in a modern environment. You don’t need a study to improve quality of healthcare; we know the level of services we want to provide,” Jagdeo had said. Last year marked the initiation of the construction of the Guyana Paediatric and Maternal Hospital at Ogle, East Coast Demerara. In 2021, it was reported that the government was examining a maternal and children’s hospital that would offer specialised care to Guyanese. The commencement of construction for the New Amsterdam hospital, with a budget of US$161 million, took place in January of this year. Upon its completion, the new facility will be interconnected with the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), establishing connections with Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and other prominent hospitals worldwide through telemedicine. The upcoming hospital will incorporate five operating theatres, with one dedicated to cardiac surgery, as well as state-of-the-art digital X-ray and CT scan equipment. This will be the second public facility that will accommodate an MRI machine and will be fully equipped for performing transplants. Two more buildings are set to be erected within the compound, one to serve as a teaching facility and the other as a modern psychiatric facility.
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