Saturday, June 6, 2026
Saturday, June 6, 2026
Surgical theatres part of landmark upgrades for hinterland health centres
Hinterland residents will soon have access to surgical procedures in their communities through a government project aimed at reducing hospital trips to Georgetown, the Ministry of Health’s Director General Dr Vishwa Mahadeo disclosed this week.
Dr Mahadeo expressed enthusiasm as he told reporters of the advancements underway in the health sector in Region Nine.
“We are building new theatres in Region Nine – Annai, Karasabai and Sand Creek -where we will be offering surgical capacity,” Dr Mahadeo said.
The ongoing upgrades are part of a $200 million investment from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to replace existing health centres with district hospitals.
Then $97 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) makes possible the buildout of state-of-the-art hospitals in Moruca, Region One; Kato, Region Eight and Lethem, Region Nine.
As part of efforts to elevate healthcare in the hinterland, these hospitals will have access to testing, X-rays, CT scans, ultrasound and diagnostics services.
The need for procedures to be accessible in these far-flung communities is paramount because of the extreme activities some patients perform daily, Dr Mahadeo said.
“We did eight surgeries here [at the Kamarang District Hospital earlier this week]… they are all major surgeries and these patients at any time one of them could become an emergency, they might be living with their hernia or gall stone quietly on a day to day basis and then suddenly the hernia gets strangulated or they start getting severe pain and then we have to medevac them,” Dr Mahadeo said.
Further healthcare provisions are being made as specialists from Georgetown assist doctors and their teams in the hinterland through telemedicine.
“This is a case of bringing healthcare to the people,” Dr Mahadeo said, noting that there is an ongoing process to identify cataract cases and have these persons treated at the National Ophthalmology Hospital at Port Mourant, Region Six.
