CT scanners at NA, Bartica hospitals to be operational by July

Two years after acquiring Computerised Tomography machines (CT scanners), the New Amsterdam and Bartica Regional Hospitals will finally be able to provide the much-needed service to residents.

According to a release from the Department of Public Information (DPI), following budgetary allocations, modifications are being made to the New Amsterdam Regional Hospital to house this highly radiative machine, whilst a new building is under construction at the Bartica Regional Hospital.

“From July 1, these services will be made available to the public, not only [in] New Amsterdam but the entire East Berbice. We find that half of our transfers to GPHC (Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation) are as a result of injuries to the head that cannot be diagnosed and treated here, because we did not have the CT scan machine. However, with the new machines we will be reducing those transfers”, Director of Health Services, Region Six, Jevaughn Stephen was quoted in the DPI release, as he noted the significance of the availability of the service in the region.

According to the DPI media release, Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings recently conducted a supervisory visit to the Bartica Regional Hospital. There, she received an update on the construction of the new building to facilitate the CT scan machine. The new facility will be completed in another month, based on details provided by the regional officials.

“I saw the building where we are going to house the CT scan. It’s about 80 percent complete. What’s left to be done is the installation of some doors and windows, a little tiling and electrical work”, Minister Cummings was quoted as saying, in the DPI statement.

The machines when functioning are expected to contribute to equal access health care delivery, the modernisation of health services in communities outside of Georgetown, and be economically beneficial to the persons living in, and around, Regions Six and Seven.

In 2016, RAD-AID had presented the two CT scanners, valued at approximately US $200,000, to the Ministry of Public Health. The two machines are currently in storage at a central location in Georgetown until they can be dispatched to the two facilities.