-by Celestine Chacon
For decades, the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) has stood at the center of Guyana’s healthcare system.
While it has at times faced criticism from those who felt its services did not measure up to other institutions, significant government investment is driving remarkable transformation, positioning the facility as an emerging regional leader in healthcare delivery.
Chief Executive Officer of GPHC, Robbie Rambarran, attributed the institution’s improved and more efficient services to both its dedicated staff and significant government investment. He noted that over the past five years, the government has invested approximately 85.2 billion dollars in the facility, with the positive impacts clearly visible.
“A major impact I’ll attribute is on maternal death , you can see there has been a significant increase over the last year, so far for this year we have 2 deaths and both are indirect deaths,” he said.
The CEO highlighted that the institution has progressed from a time when it lacked specialized equipment for surgeries and other advanced treatments to now providing these services at no cost to citizens.
“This is our national hospital that didn’t have a functional X-ray machine in 2021, we replace those……There’s equipment we have at Georgetown hospital that isn’t even in the Caribbean,” he said.
According to Rambarran, the facility is now ranking among the Caribbean’s top five, excelling in both healthcare delivery and technological innovation.