West Demerara Hospital to be transformed into educational institution – President Ali

President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali has announced that the West Demerara Regional Hospital in Vreed-en-Hoop will be transformed into an educational institution to offer programmes in nursing, dentistry, medicine and other areas important to improving the healthcare system.

Speaking at the commissioning ceremony of the state-of-the-art De Kinderen Regional Hospital, President Ali said the new facility will provide far more critical and upgraded services to residents.

President Ali disclosed that the Minister of Education had been tasked with reviewing the data on how many students are applying to the University of Guyana to study medicine. He noted that a large number of people from Region Three are pursuing courses in the medical field, which is not surprising given the size of the population.

The president explained that this is the reason why the old hospital will be converted into a training facility that will benefit persons interested in pursuing careers in the medical field.

The De Kinderen Hospital will have 75 inpatient beds in fully air-conditioned rooms with attached toilets and baths. Speciality clinics in obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, internal medicine, orthopaedics, and surgery will be offered, along with individual departments for dental, ophthalmology, and audiology services.

There is a 24-hour Accident and Emergency Department and an Imaging Centre with X-ray machines, ultrasounds and CT scans. Pharmacy and laboratory services will be open 24 hours to patients.

Operational capacity has greatly increased with the addition of three new operating rooms, compared to the single room that existed at the West Demerara Regional Hospital in 2020.

The hospital has a recovery suite, a three-bed intensive care unit (ICU), a two-bed high dependency unit (HDU), and a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for severely ill newborns.