Six regional hospitals to be operational by early 2025 – Guyana Chronicle
-$2B spent to upgrade health facilities across the country
THE foundations have been laid for the country’s six new regional hospitals and according to Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony, the works are expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
Dr Anthony recently explained that these projects are part of the government’s plans to upgrade health facilities and add more to the country’s stock.
As such, six new regional hospitals are being constructed at Anna Regina, Region Two; De Kinderen, Region Three; Diamond and Enmore, Region Four; Bath, Region Five and Skeldon, Region Six.
Against this backdrop, the minister told members of the media that the foundations for all of these facilities have been completed and infrastructural works will become noticeable in the first quarter of 2024.
“You would see over the next quarter… you would see the infrastructure starting to take shape and [at] all of these six hospitals we are expecting the physical infrastructure to be completed by the end of 2024,” he said.
Subsequently, he noted that the equipping of these facilities will be done, thus making the hospitals functional and operational by early 2025.
He noted that these facilities will have 24-hour Accident and Emergency, 24-hour labs, a suite of imaging services including ultrasound, digital X-Ray, and CT scans, along with operation theatres and more.
These six facilities are being constructed through a partnership with China’s Sinopharm International and serve as part of a larger $37.2 billion initiative that will modernise the regional healthcare system in Guyana.
Meanwhile, the health minister also said that over the past two years the government has done a lot of work on health infrastructure and this year has spent some $2 billion upgrading 271 health posts and health centres across the country.
Giving a breakdown, Dr Anthony said that 210 health posts and health centres were upgraded, in addition to 61 accommodation facilities for staff.
As part of these upgrades, the health minister indicated that surgical theatres were added to facilities such as the Diamond Hospital, Aishalton, Moruca, Mahdia and Mahaicony hospitals, which are all functional.
Further to this, he said: “We are expanding the district hospitals at Kamarang, Port Kaituma, Annai, Karasabai and Sand Creek. So, these projects are on the way [and] by the mid of next year we are hoping they could be completed.”
