President commissions new inpatient facility at GPHC - calls for more focus on accountability, value for money
Georgetown, GINA, November 21, 2011
Source - GINA
President Bharrat Jagdeo delivering remarks at the commissioning of the new inpatient facility at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
President Bharrat Jagdeo today officially commissioned the new Inpatient Facility at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
The Head of State expressed his satisfaction with the progress made in the health sector moreso the GPHC, which is the country’s premier health institution and lauded the Ministers who head the health Ministry and the administrators and staff of all the hospitals across Guyana, all of whom, made sterling contributions in enhancing the delivery of health care.
However; the President recognised that much more needs to be done and reaffirmed Government’s commitment in ensuring that more resources are made available for the sector to ensure the Guyanese benefit from the highest quality healthcare.
“If you were to trace the growth in the services, you would see that it is nothing short of phenomenal. I recall the early days when the facilities were not as good as they are now, but as our country progresses economically, so too does our capacity, to expand health care to our people,” the President said.
A patient being attended to in the inpatient facility.
He explained that improvements in health care are not merely as a result of the construction of new buildings but also as a result of good policies, as well as what takes place within institutions itself.
He urged all staff, particularly the administrators, to place a stronger focus on accountability and value for money.
“We have to make sure that in a country like ours, we get the maximum value for every dollar that we spend, particularly in health care…we have to ensure that we are patient-friendly and that we understand that the service that we provide here has to be done in a particular manner…greater accountability for the level of service provided in these institutions is also an important matter,” the Head of State explained.
He disclosed that only recently, the Indian Government indicated that it approved the “soft loan” to fund the new Specialty Hospital that will be built at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.
A section of the gathering at the commissioning of the new inpatient facility at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
This facility will not only become part of what is being offered within the public health system, but will also allow Guyanese to access the best quality tertiary health care at an affordable cost because Government will be entering a partnership with a management group that will deliver those services.
President Jagdeo said that construction of this state-of-the-art facility, that will see a quantum leap with regards to health care delivery, is anticipated to commence by the first quarter of 2012.
Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy said that the commissioning of the facility represents another step in the overall implementation of the new health sector in Guyana.
“Our health sector serves the people of Guyana and our guests…not one political, ethnic, cultural and religious group…I can’t say that we have reached the place where we want to be, but I stand here with extreme pride of how far we have come,” the Health Minister said.
He noted that Government has demonstrated through its investments that health is a part of the country’s development.
The new inpatient building.
The total investments at the GPHC in 1990, was $127M; the 2011 budget on the other hand, saw the hospital receiving an allocation of over US $20.5M, with approximately US $10M to be spent on medicines alone for the year.
The new in-patient facility is in keeping with the GPHC’s master plan and the national development strategy to improve the quality and efficacy of health care services. The state-of-the-art facility has the capacity to house approximately 300 patients.
Works on the building commenced in 2010 with a budgetary allocation of $716M for the first phase, while earlier this year an additional $235M was budgeted for its completion.
The facility which has eight isolation rooms for patients with communicable diseases, and four silent rooms for grieving patients or for persons, who wish to pray, was constructed through a collaborative venture between Government and the Inter-American Development Bank.
Each bed in the new facility will be equipped with modern centralised monitoring devices such as gas masks and heart and blood pressure monitors. Meanwhile, some 65 doctors and 60 nurses have already been identified to staff the new facility.
The facility is expected to significantly ease the situation of overcrowding at the current facility.
Georgetown, GINA, November 21, 2011
Source - GINA
President Bharrat Jagdeo delivering remarks at the commissioning of the new inpatient facility at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
President Bharrat Jagdeo today officially commissioned the new Inpatient Facility at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
The Head of State expressed his satisfaction with the progress made in the health sector moreso the GPHC, which is the country’s premier health institution and lauded the Ministers who head the health Ministry and the administrators and staff of all the hospitals across Guyana, all of whom, made sterling contributions in enhancing the delivery of health care.
However; the President recognised that much more needs to be done and reaffirmed Government’s commitment in ensuring that more resources are made available for the sector to ensure the Guyanese benefit from the highest quality healthcare.
“If you were to trace the growth in the services, you would see that it is nothing short of phenomenal. I recall the early days when the facilities were not as good as they are now, but as our country progresses economically, so too does our capacity, to expand health care to our people,” the President said.
A patient being attended to in the inpatient facility.
He explained that improvements in health care are not merely as a result of the construction of new buildings but also as a result of good policies, as well as what takes place within institutions itself.
He urged all staff, particularly the administrators, to place a stronger focus on accountability and value for money.
“We have to make sure that in a country like ours, we get the maximum value for every dollar that we spend, particularly in health care…we have to ensure that we are patient-friendly and that we understand that the service that we provide here has to be done in a particular manner…greater accountability for the level of service provided in these institutions is also an important matter,” the Head of State explained.
He disclosed that only recently, the Indian Government indicated that it approved the “soft loan” to fund the new Specialty Hospital that will be built at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.
A section of the gathering at the commissioning of the new inpatient facility at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
This facility will not only become part of what is being offered within the public health system, but will also allow Guyanese to access the best quality tertiary health care at an affordable cost because Government will be entering a partnership with a management group that will deliver those services.
President Jagdeo said that construction of this state-of-the-art facility, that will see a quantum leap with regards to health care delivery, is anticipated to commence by the first quarter of 2012.
Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy said that the commissioning of the facility represents another step in the overall implementation of the new health sector in Guyana.
“Our health sector serves the people of Guyana and our guests…not one political, ethnic, cultural and religious group…I can’t say that we have reached the place where we want to be, but I stand here with extreme pride of how far we have come,” the Health Minister said.
He noted that Government has demonstrated through its investments that health is a part of the country’s development.
The new inpatient building.
The total investments at the GPHC in 1990, was $127M; the 2011 budget on the other hand, saw the hospital receiving an allocation of over US $20.5M, with approximately US $10M to be spent on medicines alone for the year.
The new in-patient facility is in keeping with the GPHC’s master plan and the national development strategy to improve the quality and efficacy of health care services. The state-of-the-art facility has the capacity to house approximately 300 patients.
Works on the building commenced in 2010 with a budgetary allocation of $716M for the first phase, while earlier this year an additional $235M was budgeted for its completion.
The facility which has eight isolation rooms for patients with communicable diseases, and four silent rooms for grieving patients or for persons, who wish to pray, was constructed through a collaborative venture between Government and the Inter-American Development Bank.
Each bed in the new facility will be equipped with modern centralised monitoring devices such as gas masks and heart and blood pressure monitors. Meanwhile, some 65 doctors and 60 nurses have already been identified to staff the new facility.
The facility is expected to significantly ease the situation of overcrowding at the current facility.