To ensure that doctors and nurses are housed in comfortable and safe housing, Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony during his visit to Region Nine on Friday officially declared open a staff quarter facility in Yupukari Village, Region Nine.
With funding made available by the government through Region Nine’s Regional Democratic Council (RDC), the staff quarter facility was constructed to the tune of $14 million.
The newly constructed facility is fully equipped with a solar power system that can provide electricity and can accommodate two medical personnel along with their families.
Minister, Dr Frank Anthony who has responsibility for the health sector, explained that some $100 million was allocated to upgrade all health posts, centres and hospitals in the Rupununi region.
Another $100 million was earmarked for Region Nine to build facilities to accommodate medical staff in villages.
“We also recognize that if we put down a health post or centre, sometimes the staff is not necessarily from the village, which makes it a problem because they don’t have anywhere to stay and we took a decision that we must build good staff quarters so that persons who are not from the village will be able to use those quarters,” Dr Anthony explained.
Meanwhile, Yupukari is expected to benefit from an ambulance in 2024 that will also serve the satellite villages in times of emergencies.
He highlighted, “In the regional budget, we’ll make an allocation to buy an ambulance. Now, if we get that when the final budget comes out, then certainly we’ll buy that ambulance for your community but I am sure it will benefit other surrounding communities.”
The village is also benefiting from other government initiatives including the telemedicine system that is being piloted within the village.
Youths were also urged to take advantage of the various training programmes being offered by the Ministry of Health, as the government seeks to build out the health infrastructure into a world-class health system.
Minister Anthony was accompanied by Regional Chairman Brian Allicock, Regional Health Officer (RHO) Dr Cerdel Mcwatt, and Ministry’s Hinterland Coordinator Michael Goveia among other personnel.