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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 31, 2020
$1.6B COVID-19 hospital opened …to ensure improved quality of service, infrastructure in COVID-19 fight
By Navendra Seoraj GUYANA has taken a major leap in the fight against the dreaded novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, with the commissioning of its new Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, at the site of the former Ocean View Hotel. This “leap” is expected to radically improve the quality of service and infrastructure for patients and staff, as the country continues to battle COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, which may arise in the future. The situation in Guyana is still evolving. And, according to recent statistics, the country recorded 44 new cases between July 25 and July 28, 2020, a span of just three days. Authorities have recorded 401 cases to date. “Today, life on earth is confronted with one of humanity’s gravest health challenges for more than one hundred years. The COVID-19 pandemic – an event which no country anticipated and for which few could pretend to have been adequately prepared – has brought the death and disease completely unanticipated to millions of persons in every continent,” lamented President David Granger, as he addressed a small gathering at the opening ceremony of the facility, on Thursday. He said the A Partnership for National Unit and Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Government’s objective of universal healthcare is all the more important given the present situation. The global pandemic has tested public health systems everywhere. The new reality requires that public health systems increase and strengthen their capacity to address sudden and unexpected outbreaks of communicable diseases by providing more hospital beds, improved protective gear for medical personnel, better communicable diseases surveillance and specialised hospitals, such as this institution, devoted exclusively to infectious diseases. To this end, President Granger said: “The establishment of this infectious diseases’ hospital represents an essential and urgent investment in safeguarding our people’s health, not just against the coronavirus pandemic, but also against future communicable epidemics.” This facility, which was rehabilitated and built at a cost of $1.6B billion, is seen
From right, President David Granger; Finance Minister, Winston Jordan; Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence; Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Health, Colette Adams; Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud; and Resident PAHO/WHO Representative, Dr. William Adu-Krow cut the ceremonial ribbon to declare open, the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (Elvin Croker photo)
seemed distant at first, but it reached Guyana on March 11. And, with it, came immediate challenges such as the need for surveillance, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine facilities and equipment. “There were myriad of unknowns about the highly-infectious disease, particularly symptoms, protec-
President David Granger and other officials touring the new centre for disease prevention and control (Elvin Croker photo)
as an essential element of the emergency response. Government recognised the urgency of having an institution which could be dedicated exclusively to providing treatment to coronavirus patients. And, according to the President Granger, the model which was developed in the “early days” of the pandemic required Guyana to have the capacity and the capability to achieve accommodation of 197 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients at any one time. He, therefore, believes that the infectious diseases hospital is strategic, as it will be used primarily for COVID-19 patients but, eventually, will become a fully-specialised communicable disease hospital. “It is an important step forward towards protecting
our people from epidemic disease. It is always preferable for infectious patients to be isolated away from the general hospital population so as to reduce the risk of transmission and to ensure a better environment for treatment and recuperation,” said the President. Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence, also spoke about the importance of the new facility, noting that it indicates a change in trajectory of how Guyana will address outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics. She reminded persons that this is not the first, local specialised institution, but noted that it reflects the will and resolve of the government to be proactive rather than reactive. Minister Lawrence admitted that COVID-19 had
tive measures…there was even much speculation about COVID-19, and there is still much speculation about COVID-19,” said the minister. The country, however, quickly realised that it lacked capacity, having limited hospitals and one national referral hospital, the Georgetown
Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), to cater for all services. The GPHC, which has the country’s only COVID-19 ICU, has 500 beds and an occupancy rate of 99 per cent. The other district hospitals account for the remaining 64 per cent of beds, but only provide basic inpatient services. “This situational assessment left us in a quandary, as there were challenges in the capacity and other areas…it was as such deemed necessary for the country to have a designated facility for any surges in patient load, caused by COVID-19,” said Minister Lawrence. The new facility, as such, serves as the first all-inclusive infectious diseases facility which the public health ministry envisages, will remove the constraints from GPHC and the regional and district hospitals. The new facility has the capacity for 190 beds and will have a staff complement of 200 persons. It also caters for laboratories, a pharmacy, an ICU, an operation theatre and even a mortuary. A section of the facility will also house the Health Emergency Operations Centre (HEOC), a surveillance centre, a research centre and administrative offices. TURN TO PAGE
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