Allegations surface of deliberate move to shut down CHI
– as Health Minister promises to look into neglect of institution
A delay in the completion of a Cardiac Catherisation Laboratory to accommodate a much needed Hybrid machine to help improve the operation of the Caribbean Heart Institute (CHI) was a deliberate tactic to oust CHI’s 
Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Gary Stephens.
Kaieteur News was reliably informed of this state of affairs, which comes to light even as the newly elected coalesced A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change Government begins to assume control of the country.
Dr. Stephens, the founder of CHI, last year expressed concern to this publication that the delay of the lab was one that could very well jeopardise the existence of CHI, which represented a crucial public-private partnership aimed at catering to a variety of heart complications in patients.
And based on information this publication was able to obtain, the neglect of CHI was a well thought out tactical move. This publication was informed that the works on the lab could have been completed in two months but well over a year later, it is still not completed.
The alleged reason for this, was to create a void with a view of bringing on board an overseas based medical practitioner (name withheld) said to be a “friend” of the then ruling administration.
It is alleged that a senior health functionary of the former ruling administration was instructed to ensure that CHI flopped in order to accommodate the individual.
The friend in question, a Canada-based assistant surgeon, was earmarked for a position similar to that held by Dr. Stephens. But, unlike Dr. Stephens a well-trained and established Cardiac Surgeon who has successfully completed hundreds of heart related procedures at the reputable Brooklyn Maimonides Medical Centre as well as CHI, the “friend” in question based on his qualifications was not permitted even in Canada to operate without guidance. “It was all a ploy to put a less than qualified person to head CHI,” intimated a source close to the former ruling administration.
As part of the tactic to force CHI’s collapse, the source related how CHI was deliberately starved of funds. As part of the public-private partnership agreement to subsidise the cost of cardiac care for patients, Government, at the start of CHI’s operation, granted part funding for patients, for needed operations.
But since the start of the Cath Lab which has been left in limbo, the source revealed that “Government drastically cut back on its funding. This was the main revenue source for CHI that was drastically altered.”
This publication was informed that since the start of the lab, close to three dozen patients’ requests for support were made to the then Government but a mere three were acknowledged. The responses were forthcoming months after the requests were made, a situation that could have placed patients’ lives in grave danger.
But reports reaching this publication suggest that Government through its legal arm had re-examined and revised its agreement with CHI.
It was expected, that the neglect would have frustrated Dr. Stephens paving the way for Government to exclusively “revamp” the institution.
However, the situation at CHI is definitely expected to change.
According to newly appointed Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton, he intends to give keen attention to the situation at CHI.
Dr. Norton said the delay in the completion of the lab and the failure to install the hybrid machine, has been an especially worrying one to him since the entire project is one that attracted the whopping sum of some $2.1 billion.
He recalled that the project was brought to Parliament for approval on a supplementary sheet and was approved. As such, he expressed disappointment that nothing has yet been done to allow for even one person to benefit from improved cardiac care. CHI, which is venued in the GPHC’s compound, commenced operation in 2006.
However by 2011, the management of CHI had consulted with Government about acquiring a new Cardiac Cath Lab, in light of the fact that its equipment was nearing the end of its lifespan.
The expectation was that with the lab in place, both cardiology intervention and cardiac surgery would have been possible in a single room using the Hybrid machine, thereby, allowing for Guyana to possibly be the first in the Caribbean to offer such advanced technology.
The delay in the completion of the lab has therefore resulted in the stalling of expansion plans for CHI, and even worse, was the possibility of its closure.
Dr. Stephens had intimated last year December “any day now our machine can suffer a catastrophic failure, and even if it doesn’t, I don’t see us surviving the next six months.”
This publication understands that CHI was forced to expend in excess of $60M to ensure that its current equipment remain in working order.
According to Dr. Stephens without urgent progression of the project, the future of CHI will remain uncertain and “it’s a shame after all the hard work and goodwill that kept it afloat. I hope we will survive but the service we offer will be restricted.”
Since last year the multimillion Hybrid machine, covered with a blue tarpaulin, has been sitting on the ground floor of the GPHC near the Ophthalmology Department gathering dust. It has never been used.
Based on an agreement between the former Government and General Electric (GE – the company that supplied the machine), a suitable room, in this case the Cardiac Cath Lab, must be completed to accommodate the machine which will be transported and installed by GE technicians. And should the conditions of supply and installation not be adhered to, Government would be expected to stand any additional cost. “There is no telling whether the machine has developed any problems because it is sitting unused in conditions that it was not intended to be,” one official close to the former administration had told this publication.
