The X-ray and ultrasound machines at the Skeldon Hospital have been grounded for the past two months, and several air conditioning units are not operable at that medical facility.
This is according to Director of Regional Health Services, Jevaughn Stephens, in response to questions posed by councillors at the Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) Regional Democratic Council (RDC) meeting last week.
Stephens said an electrical problem has affected the smooth functioning of the Skeldon Hospital. According to him, the Skeldon Hospital, in the past, received power from the Skeldon Sugar Estate to power its heavy-duty equipment, but since the closure of the estate, this is no longer possible.
“We had to take off some of the services, because the building used to get power from GuySuCo (Guyana Sugar Corporation) and we are no longer getting power from GuySuCo. We did an assessment and decided to put it on GPL (Guyana Power and Light) grid; that is what is taking the time,” Stephens said.
“If we connect the equipment to the grid presently, we will be running a serious risk. Every day, we keep calling GPL,” he explained.
The hospital has since been transferring its emergency patients to the New Amsterdam Hospital, situated 50 miles away.
Region 6 Chairman David Armogan, in response, said the situation needs to be tackled with more urgency. He said a generator could be rented in the interim to power the heavy-duty equipment.
Armogan said he has been receiving numerous reports from persons who had gone to the Skeldon Hospital and could not be treated because the X-ray machine was not working. Many other patients had to be sent to other facilities because doctors could not get an ultrasound.
Armogan noted that the situation must be addressed with a great degree of urgency. He has promised the Regional Administration’s intervention to see whether the GPL would give priority to that hospital’s application to be hooked up to its grid.