Construction work is set to begin soon on a $6.5 billion state-of-the-art regional hospital at Lethem. 

The facility will feature two fully functional operating rooms, an emergency room and a procedure room along with diagnostic imaging services.

It will also include outpatient specialized clinics and a digital health control room.

At a sod turning for the hospital over the weekend, President Irfaan Ali said more than $7 Billion has already been injected into the region’s health sector.

“In many developed countries in the world, they would never invest this quantum of resources for 33,000 people. That is a statement of fact. What it tells you, is that geographic location, size of population is not the bar in which we place our development. It is about the quality of life and making meaningful changes for every single citizen,” the President said. 

When completed, the hospital will increase access to critical services, but will also improve the quality of services the residents of Region Nine receive. 

Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony said the government has been investing heavily in the healthcare sector and decentralizing critical services by upgrading health facilities across the country.

He said in Lethem, the hospital’s operating theater was upgraded while a recovery room was added to accommodate more patients, resulting in an increase in surgeries.  

“In 2020, we were barely doing maybe about 139 surgeries at this hospital. By the end of last year, we did more than a thousand surgeries right here in this hospital,” the Health Minister said. 

Minister Anthony said government’s strategic investment in the region’s healthcare sector has also resulted in a reduction in maternal deaths.

“Because of that [initiative], our maternal mortality, that means the death that happens during pregnancy went to zero, and that’s an achievement for this region. So, what I am pointing out to you is that simple investments, if you know what you are doing, simple investments can save the lives of our people. And that is what this government is about, we make simple strategic investments that is going to improve the conditions of our people, and we have been seeing that,” the Health Minister said. 

Additionally, the medevac rate has decreased from 20 percent to 3 percent, which the Minister noted was an indication that fewer patients require referrals to the Georgetown Public Hospital for lifesaving surgeries. 

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