Region Nine to receive full complement of medical specialists
DPI, Guyana, Friday, September 15, 2017
Region Nine is expected to receive its full complement of Medical Specialists. They are to be stationed in the region within the next week. Efforts have been made at beginning of 2017 to ensure that Hinterland Regional Hospitals are equipped with doctors offering specialised services.
Dr. Kay Shako, Director of Regional Health Services, Ministry of Public Health.
Director of Regional Health Services (RHS) in the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Kay Shako said the idea is to bridge the inequitable gaps of healthcare between the hinterland and coastal regions; thereby reducing the number of medical outreaches made to the hinterland and number of medevacs to the Georgetown Public Hospital.
The four main specialty areas where doctors will be employed are General Surgery, Obstetrics/Gynaecology, Internal Medicine and also Pediatrics. “I’m proud to say that in the coming week Region Nine will have its complete quota of specialists to manage the hospital there. So, region seven would have had all it specialists already, and now we have Region Nine to be completed. The two specialists that will be going there will be a specialist in internal medicine and a pediatrician”, Dr. Shako said.
The director also made reference to the fact that since these specialists have been placed in the hinterland, the need for medical evacuations and surgical outreaches have been reduced.
She added that “Of significance, I must mention that so far, based on a small survey that was done, we have a reduction of medevacs in Region Seven and even as I speak now we do not have medical outreaches nor surgical outreaches in region seven”.
Despite the challenges to recruit doctors with the necessary qualifications, Region One is slated for the next assignment of specialists. The Mabaruma Regional Hospital had been earmarked for placement of these specialists towards the end of the first quarter of 2017.
Dr. Shako clarified, “We are about to go to Region One, even as I speak we already have a Gynaecologist for Region One and a Pediatrician and they will be going there within another month”.
The RHS Director reiterated that all residents within the hinterland regions have access to health care. However, a regional hospital requires specialist-doctors to eliminate the possibility of persons seeking complex health care in the city.
The Ministry of Public Health remains committed to improving healthcare delivery in the hinterland.
By: Delicia Haynes