23 first-time lab technicians, 39 community health workers graduate in Region Nine

The healthcare system in Region Nine has now been boosted with 23 new Medical Laboratory Technicians who studied and graduated within the region for the first time.

In addition, the region now has 39 Community Health Workers. This is the second batch of students who are graduating from the decentralised programme.

The graduates who are from the various sub-districts within the region are eager to now go back into their communities and make a meaningful impact.

The Department of Public Information (DPI) spoke with a few of the graduates on Saturday at their graduation ceremony at the Lethem Amerindian Hostel.

The valedictorian of the Community Health Worker Programme, 35-year-old Osanna Conrad said that she knew she had the potential but was still surprised at her excellent performance.

The mother of three said she is ready to work diligently and willingly within her community to minimise various health hazards that persist.

“Today we graduated, and we are ready to go back into our communities and serve the people there. Our actions will be of great impact because we do not have a lot of health workers within our region so now, we will have enough,” the woman stated.

As she takes on a new path in her work life, the other valedictorian of the Medical Laboratory Programme, Vanita Hendricks, age 29, said that she is ready to take on new challenges that this career path may throw at her.

“My plan is to continue to strive for excellence and to be great in whatever I do. I would like to encourage more young people to join the programme because it would really benefit our region,” Hendricks said.

Moreover, as he delivered the feature address, the Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony highlighted the ministry’s accomplishment of decentralising the programmes while still being able to provide the same high quality as is usually provided in the city and on the coastland.

The minister encouraged the graduates to go back into their community and serve the people with the intention of always upskilling themselves.

“I am so happy that you guys came from different parts of the region, and you will be going back to serve your communities. But when you go back, I encourage you to gain some experience and then come back to us and take a higher course,” the health minister stated.

Minister Anthony further disclosed that through the plethora of programmes offered by the ministry’s Health Sciences Education (HSE), the ministry has managed to train some 377 persons over the past four years.

Also present was Regional Chairman, Brian Allicock who described the event as a significant one for the region and a step forward to improved healthcare services.

“This event can be marked as a significant milestone in the advancement of healthcare in our region…What we are doing is building the gap between communities and providing essential health services for our people,” the regional chairman pointed out.

He noted that these accomplishments will also enhance the quality and accessibility of healthcare services across the region, particularly in remote communities.

Meanwhile, Deputy Director of the ministry’s HSE Programme, Chandroutie Persaud-Bahadur said that the ministry’s aim is to build capacity locally to harness mutual understanding among the people.

“We are investing in hinterland regions because we know that you can connect more with the people of your community than for us to train persons to send them here,” the deputy director pointed out.

It must be noted that the trainers who conducted the programme and facilitated the students were right from the region as well.