Current New Amsterdam Hospital to be upgraded to a mental health facility

The existing New Amsterdam Hospital is being replaced with another, more modern facility that costs about US$161 million.

And Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday said once that new hospital is built, the current one will be transformed into a mental health facility.

At a People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) press conference on Thursday, Jagdeo said the construction of the new New Amsterdam Hospital is part of several crucial investments in Region Six (East Berbice- Corentyne). These investments, he said, are meant to advance development and people’s quality of living in the region.

The new hospital, in particular, will be a European standard facility. According to Jagdeo, it will provide Berbicians with an “international level” of healthcare.

The current hospital, which serves thousands of people, will not be destroyed. Instead, it will be transformed into a better facility to provide mental health services.

“The old hospital will be rehabilitated, refurbished and upgraded and made into the mental health facility,” Jagdeo said at the press conference.

Just nearby the current hospital is Guyana’s National Psychiatric Hospital which, for years, has provided services locally.

The government previously said it would close this facility built in the mid- 1800s and provide more modern mental health services.