Within two years, Guyana should have a specialty hospital that would perform any surgical procedure that can currently be done in the United States of America at a “fraction of the cost”, President Bharrat Jagdeo announced on Friday.
Speaking to the media at State House hours after his return from India, Jagdeo disclosed that he had made significant progress on the project during his trip there. He explained that the Guyana government had approached the Indian government and they had proposed using a line of credit to build a specialty hospital. It was agreed that Guyana should choose a partner in India to manage the facility. He said that Guyana held discussions with several groups and has since chosen a partner.
Jagdeo said that the company will go out for tender for an Indian company to construct the hospital. The hospital will be run by specialists from India. The rates, Jagdeo said, will be negotiated between the government of Guyana and the new managers of the hospital. The line of credit is US$18M but it can be increased if there is a demand, the President said.
The President promised that the hospital will deliver healthcare “at the highest possible level.” He said that the hospital “will provide all kinds of services from cardiology, to doing transplant of organs to maybe even cosmetic surgery,” the President said. He said that the hospital will not only cater for the Guyanese market, but will also be open to patients from the Caribbean region, members of the Diaspora in North America and persons from northern Brazil.
“So I’m hoping that before the end of the year we can start the construction. And within a year and a half, maximum two years, any surgery that you can have in the United States of America now, you’ll be able to have here in Guyana at the same quality at a fraction of the cost,” he said. Jagdeo had mentioned the exorbitant costs that Guyanese faced when having to undergo surgeries overseas as one of the motivating reasons for the initiative.
While the administration has been looking at several sites, Jagdeo said that a plot of land at Turkeyen which has been the centre of a legal dispute may be the ideal location. This land, he said, was government property which Toolsie Persaud Limited had squatted on but that Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) had decided the case in favour of the government.
