More improvements for New Amsterdam hospital, other health centres

-Health Minister pours cold water on spurious claims

New Amsterdam Hospital is scheduled to undergo more improvements as the PPP/C Government stands committed to ensuring there are major health sector upgrades and reforms.  

Speaking during an interview, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony said there is a lot of misinformation and spurious claims being made about the hospital’s condition.

He noted a slew of rehabilitative measures is already in place for health facilities across the country while noting that the hospital is no different.

Dr Anthony noted that there were false claims about the state of the hospital operating theatre in a section of the media which needs to be addressed.

“One of the things that were mentioned in the article was that the theatres have mould in them. There is no theatre right now at the New Amsterdam Hospital that has any mould in it because if it has mould, we have to shut the theatre down”, the Minister said.

He noted that the PPP/C Government would never place the health of patients at the New Amsterdam Hospital at risk.

“It would not be fit for us to operate in such a theatre. We are not going to put any patient at risk to operate in such an environment,” he said.

Notwithstanding this, the minister explained that several other mechanisms were re-established at the New Amsterdam facility, including dialysis treatment.

The construction of a new isolation facility, additional technical equipment, and the implementation of solar energy systems are also among the measures implemented to improve the facility.

“What was painted in the article is far from the reality of what exists on the ground, and it is unfortunate that that has happened,” Dr Anthony clarified.

Additionally, Advisor to the minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy in a Letter to the Editor in the Stabroek Newspaper on Friday, explained that the information mentioned in the article included the areas the Ministry of Health identified for improvement and upgrade.

“The description that [was] used in an editorial…and in earlier articles that they claimed the IDB now has found in a study refers to the conditions the MOH was addressing from August 2020 and used as the basis for rehabilitation and upgrading plans that were put together since that time,” he explained.

Not only has the government set aside more than $1 Billion for rehabilitative works at hospitals across the country but has already set the foundation for the construction of several new healthcare facilities.

On July 31, the sod was turned for the construction of a 256-bed Pediatric and Maternal Hospital at Goedverwagting, East Coast Demerara.