Diamond, CC Nicholson hospitals to be regional facilities

The Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence last week acknowledged that the district and regional hospitals are not operating at full capacity, and has since announced that two district hospitals will be upgraded to regional status.

The Minister made the acknowledgement while delivering the feature address at last Friday’s commissioning of the new maternity wing of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). Addressing the problem of the early closing of the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH), as raised by Dr. Pedro Lucio, Minister Lawrence attributed it to the limited number of lab technicians and other technical staff working beyond the regular eight-hour shifts.  As a result, Lawrence stated that they have been working with regional authorities to address the situation and they will have the hospital running on a 24-hour basis before the end of the year.

According to the Department of Public Information, Lawrence has since announced the scheduled upgrade of the Diamond Diagnostic Centre on the East Bank, and C.C. Nicholson Hospital at Nabacalis on the East Coast, to regional hospitals under a two-year plan to lighten the current burden on the GPHC.