M&CC, MOPH collaborate to improve health centres

DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, September 20, 2017

The Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings conducted a site visit to the Festival City Health Centre, along with a team who will integrally craft ways to improve the services offered at the facility.

Minister Cummings was accompanied by District Health Officer Dr. Danelle Drepaul, Chief Health Visitor (Georgetown) Medex Beres Springer along with city and public health engineers and other representatives of the Mayor and City Councillors (M&CC) in Georgetown.

As a result of this site visit, it has been proven that there is need to enhance and improve the facilities of the health centre. Minister Cummings initially remarked that her ministry will be partnering with the M&CC to strategically plan and roll out upgrades to the facility.

The Minister has met with Town Clerk, Royston King who has expressed an interest in contributing to a better health care delivery system to the citizens of Georgetown. “We would like it (Festival City Health Centre) to come on par with some of our facilities that we have at the Ministry of Public Health(MOPH), so we are prepared to partner with the City Council to ensure that we deliver quality care to the residents of south Georgetown.”

Immediately, the Minister sought to address the issue of flooding at the health centre’s compound and its outskirts. “Starting from outside, as you know this place floods very easily when it rains. So, we are working; we have two engineers (one from the M&CC and one from the MOPH). They will work together with the Ministry of Public Infrastructure(to) see how we can improve the situation so we don’t have flooding, so the mothers don’t have to skip and jump when they are coming to the clinic and also we are going to cater for the disabled”, Minister Cummings further stated.

Minister Cummings added that there may be plans to extend the clinic, in order to house more staff and equipment and offer extensive services to residents in that area.

She remarked, “It will be a stop gap from persons going directly to Georgetown Hospital.  So, we have decided that we are going to sit back and come up with some planning more or less a plan or structure that is to be here we are thinking of a double, top and bottom, two-storey building.”

Chief Health Visitor, Medex Beres Springer explained that the M&CC is interested in the health and well-being of the people in around Georgetown, hence the Council’s proposal to the Ministry of Public Health to collaborate on this venture.

“This is a large community. We want to introduce, on a daily basis, a kind of outpatient service where we do chronic illnesses dressing and so forth … making it a one-stop shop where you can come and see a doctor get your medication and have everything done. At the same time, we are easing load at the Georgetown hospital so that Georgetown hospital can tend to more emergencies as they should”, Springer said.

The health centre currently offers Maternal and Child Health services which includes prenatal, antenatal and postnatal care along with family planning, counselling and testing services from Tuesdays to Thursdays. Services for chronic disease patients are also facilitated on Mondays and Fridays.

 

By: Delicia Haynes