New GPHC board to address surgeries backlog

Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, has instructed the newly appointed board of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) to address several planned surgeries that have been backlogged since March.
He made this announcement during Wednesday’s COVID-19 update and said that the hospital will soon administer these surgeries since the GPHC now holds the capacity.
This is in light of the COVID-19 intensive care and transition patients who were previously housed at the GPHC being transferred to the Liliendaal Infectious Disease Hospital (better known as the Ocean View Hospital).

The Minister stressed that the transfer of the patients has enabled the GPHC to return normalcy after dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic since its onset in March.
Dr. Anthony, in an exclusive interview with this newspaper, had highlighted that the GPHC has been the central management unit of the virus for nine months and in some instances, they saw a high influx of cases but lacked space. It also contributed to the inability to carry out critical functions apart from COVID-19 efficiently, hence the backlog.

The hospital is still the central unit managing the virus, but with the transfer of COVID-19 patients to Ocean View, it now has capacity to carry out other functions.
The Health Minister has since expressed elation since those who have been on long waiting lists for surgeries will now be able to get them done.
He further added that the hospital will be using antigen tests which will also contribute to a faster pace in returning to normalcy.

“We will be able to hospitalize patients and have faster turnaround because we are now using the antigen test, so rather than people waiting in these transition wards for long periods on a PCR result, we can check their COVID-19 status by using antigen tests, and if we’re not certain, then we do the PCR. But the antigen tests would help us to screen a lot of patients and get them into the hospital and be able to do surgery as quickly as possible,” the Minister disclosed.

He also said that they have re-purposed the outpatient facilities to promote social distancing and curb the possible spread of the virus. This included installing sinks and sanitization units. According to Dr. Anthony, he expects to see outpatients attending clinics regularly since the transfers. There had been a marked decrease in the number of persons attending.

Anthony said that they have to ensure persons who normally attend those clinics, especially people with chronic non-communicable diseases, receive their treatment since their conditions require proper management. He also outlined that these persons are more at risk of COVID-19.
The new GPHC Board is expected to function until November next year and is being chaired by Dr Madan Rambarran.