Designs for Bartica, Suddie, West Dem hospitals to be completed early 2022 – Minister Anthony
Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony said Wednesday, that the design phase for the Bartica, Suddie and West Demerara hospitals will be completed early next year.
The project is being funded through a US$17.5 million line of credit from the Government of India.
The health minister was speaking during the opening ceremony of the new maternity ward at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
“We have a loan that we’ve gotten from the Indian Government and that loan is to help us with the design of the new facilities, and of course to fund the building out of those facilities. We have gone a good way in terms of the design, so those designs will be completed early next year for West Demerara hospital, Suddie Hospital and Bartica Hospital…
The loan with the Indian Government is at US$17.5 million, so that has been signed some time ago and that’s what we’re working on for the three hospitals,” minister Anthony said.
Dr. Anthony said following the design phase, the project will be tendered, after which construction will commence.
The new sections in the facilities will include outpatient services, accident and emergency, outpatient clinics, labs, imaging facilities, x-rays, CT scans, inpatient wards, and theaters.
Meanwhile, the minister also said the upgrades of the Leonora and Mabaruma hospitals to smart facilities will be completed by the end of 2021. That project is funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development under the “Smart Healthcare Facilities in the Caribbean” initiative.
“We have the project with the UK where we are upgrading the district hospitals to become smart hospitals, so we just completed Diamond and Lethem [hospitals]. We are finishing off at Mabaruma and we’re finishing off at Leonora, so those two will be completed before the year is over,” Dr. Anthony noted.
Another major project to commence in 2022 is the upgrade of the Paramakatoi Health Centre in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni).