Upgrades for Diamond, Leonora Diagnostic centres soon
Georgetown, GINA, August 15, 2016
The Ministry of Public Health in collaboration with the Ministry of Communities will soon advance works in Jawalla, Kako, Katchikamo, Port Kaituma, Kato, and Kurukubaru to facilitate improved living accommodation for health professionals in the hinterland.
The new maternity ward at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC)
According to the Ministry of Finance’s, 2016 mid-year report, upgrade works are also expected to commence shortly at the Diamond and Leonora Diagnostic Centres, while work is ongoing at the Port Kaituma Hospital Complex. The latter is expected to be completed by year-end.
The interventions, at Diamond and Leonora, will specifically improve the efficiency of health care service delivery to citizens in the immediate and surrounding areas, by reducing the congestion at the country’s National Referral Hospital, Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), and the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH).
Further, several other projects are scheduled for the second half of the year. These include the upgrading of the Tuberculosis (TB) Step Down Care Facility at the WDRH, along with the rehabilitation of a building to permanently house the Mental Health Secretariat, the report stated.
“With regard to the modernisation of three select primary health care facilities, designs and building plans were completed and sent to the Government of India for consideration. Finally, the Government is reviewing options for the way forward for the Specialty Hospital Project, in light of the debarring of the prospective contractor by the World Bank and concerns expressed by the Government of India.”
A section of the inside of the new maternity ward at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC)
For the first half of the year, the Ministry expended a total $11.5B of its $28B National Budget. Of this sum, $407M was spent on the construction, rehabilitation, upgrading and maintenance of health infrastructure countrywide. This included the construction of a 10-bed Intensive Care Unit for cardiac patients at GPHC, where progress also continues to be made towards the completion of the cardiac theatre and the extension of the Maternity Unit, where an additional 50-bed capacity will benefit expectant mothers.
Additionally $189 million was spent on the purchase and maintenance of medical equipment.