Significant boost for Region 9 district hospitals with new Ultrasound units

Ultrasound services will now be offered to residents of Annai, Karasabai, Aishalton and Sand Creek in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), eliminating the need for residents to travel to Lethem to access such service.

During his visit to the Rupununi region on Friday, Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony formally handed over the units to Regional Chairman, Brian Allicok at the Lethem Regional Hospital’s boardroom.

All four units were purchased from General Electric, a world-renowned American company which produces systems like these, at a cost of US$30,000.

During brief remarks, Minister Anthony highlighted emphasised that the new units will enhance diagnostic capabilities in these facilities.

“Not just at Lethem, but in other outlying areas to have the capacity to be able to do ultrasounds. As you can see, these are top-quality ultrasound machines,” the minister stated, adding, “the imaging quality is quite remarkable, so this is going to be another tool that will help the doctors to make better diagnoses in the region.”

He also urged the Maternal and Child Health personnel to utilise these machines for expectant mothers, to detect whether they are at risk and to monitor their well-being. 

Additionally, the Ministry of Health will soon roll out Sonography or ultrasound training in collaboration with Mohawk College, a Canadian institution.

Sixteen persons have already been identified to be among the first batch of persons to receive the training, the first kind of training to be conducted.

“By providing a different tier of training, having a technician like how we have X-ray technicians…if they cannot do the interpretation, then the interpretation can be done by a doctor and with these machines, we’ll also have the capability of sending some of the image to a central location like in Georgetown,” the minister explained.

Meanwhile, Regional Chairman Brian Allicock expressed how proud he is to witness the revolution of healthcare in the Rupununi region.

Regional Health Officer (RHO), Dr Cerdel Mcwatt also delivered brief remarks.

Only recently, similar units were handed over to Regions Three, Four and Five to expand services offered at health facilities within these regions.

Since 2020, billions of dollars in investments have been plugged into the health sector, with a staggering $129.8 billion budgeted in 2024 for the continued transformation of the health sector into one that meets world-class standards.