Georgetown: The infant mortality rate recorded by the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) is expected to drastically decline with the opening of a refurbished neonatal intensive care unit today. According to Canadian-base Dr. Narendra Singh, who is the hospital’s Principal partner for the development of an ongoing Masters in Paediatrics Programme, “we are now giving babies a real fighting chance to live by (doing more) to save their lives.”
He explained that in addition to the $100,000 valued equipment that have been added to the unit “we can significantly improve the mortality rate by some simple measures,” which currently includes a sanitizing protocol that was introduced a few months ago. This strategy, he revealed, is aimed at reducing the spate of infection and has already cut the mortality rate by 50 per cent.
Regarding the opening of the refurbished Neonatal Unit as a historic event, Dr. Singh said that the facility can now be described as a level three intensive care unit which will allow health care providers to do more. “What we are able to do here now we have not been able to do before; we can now provide respiratory support for the babies…this was not possible before….and we are working in the next few months to fully ventilate babies and I am hoping we will be able to do this with Mr. (Michael) Khan’s help.” Mr. Khan is the hospital’s Administrator.
The infrastructural cost of the facility was footed by the Government of Guyana and the GPHC while funding for the crucial equipment realized through a Charitable Organisation in Toronto, Canada, and donations from individuals. Among the new equipment found in the refurbished facility are monitors, incubators, IV pumps and C-PAP machines. Another phase of the project will incorporate the refurbishment of the Paediatric Unit, Dr. Singh said.
“I have to say that the folks from the University of McMasters have volunteered their time, they paid their own airfare, they spend two to three weeks on the ground to train our physicians here to become excellent paediatricians,” Dr. Singh said.
He speculated that without optimal care to address premature cases, particularly in the Regions and other health facilities, it is likely that the scourge may be relatively high than in Canada where he practices as a paediatrician. In Guyana there are about 14,000 births a year, with at least 6,000 deliveries being done at the GPHC. At the moment the occupancy in the neonatal unit is about 20 of which more than half are premature babies, Dr. Singh said. “Now we are more than able to optimally care for them with the equipment we have and the skills that we are imparting to the doctors.”
Meanwhile, the hospital’s service is expected to be further improved with a neonatal nursing programme that is expected to further bolster the efficiency of the newly refurbished Unit. The one-year- Neonatal Programme, according to Dr. Singh will be undertaken in collaboration with a group from Columbus, Ohio, United States. “We realized that if we train the doctors and don’t train the nurses then the programme will not survive,” Dr. Singh acknowledged. The programme has already been advertised and once qualified and registered nurses will be eligible to participate.
According to Director of Medical Services, Dr. Madan Rambarran, the public hospital has been collaborating with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), revealing that the nursing programme will be fully supported and accredited by the University of Guyana.
He said too that massive plans are apace for the introduction of an improved programme for obstetric and maternal care even as he alluded to the importance of ensuring that suitable infrastructure is in place. In this regard, he noted that “we have already started some work to refurbish the maternity ward and we are sourcing and mobilizing a bunch of new equipment.” This, however, must go hand-in-hand with education, Dr. Rambarran said, even as he revealed plans for a Residency Education Programme for Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Apart from hospital officials, the simple opening today was attended by First Lady, Mrs. Deolatchmee Ramotar, and Guyana-born Canadian Ryan Hinds. Hinds, according to Dr. Singh, is a professional football player who learned about the project and opted to volunteer his time to come to Guyana to see the local project, which he intends to fundraise to support.
You must be logged in to post a comment.