Govt of Guyana, Austria turns sod to begin the construction of Specialized Paediatric and Maternal Hospital

Guyana: The Government of Guyana, accompanied by the Government of Austria, VAMED- Engineering and the British High Commission, turned the sod to commemorate the beginning of the construction of a state-of-the-art Specialized Paediatric and Maternal Hospital in Goedverwagting East Coast Demerara.

The €149 million project was the brainchild of President Mohamed Irfaan Ali. The project is a major aspect of his vision for an excellent and exemplary healthcare sector in Guyana. This vision was brought to reality through a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Republic of Guyana and the Republic of Austria in the year 2018.

The project is the first project in the history of Guyana to be financed by the United Kingdom Export Finance agency (UKEF). During one of the featured addresses, President Mohamed Irfaan Ali expressed gratitude to the Government of Austria for being apart of such a monumental milestone in Guyana’s development and invited them to remain close friends.

Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, praised the President, during a simple ceremony, for efforts in the upliftment of the healthcare sector and the country by extension. Minister Anthony also highlighted that the government had achieved a milestone as this is the largest health investment for the general public in the history of Guyana. Surely, it will yield great returns by offering world-class clinical care to those seeking maternal, neonatal and paediatric care.

Present at today’s ceremony were members of the Cabinet, the British High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller, Head of Residency Programme- Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Dr Natasha France, Head of the Paediatric Department; Dr Tarik Davidson, Austrian Trade Commissioner for Columbia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana and the Caribbean; Dr Andreas Schmid, Managing Director and Member of the Board -VAMED Engineering GmbH; Angelo Rizzuti, and other medical personnel and invited guests.