“All of this comes with trust and showing our surrounding communities, that have become increasingly diverse, that Northwell understands their cultural needs and what’s important to them. This partnership is a win-win by strengthening Guyana’s health system and secondly, strengthening Northwell’s relationship with the people of Guyana and Little Guyana,” said Dr. Cioe Peña, according to the press release.
The five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed after Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony invited CGH to return to Guyana to assess the interior regions of Guyana to provide a strategy to increase the welfare of the people living in the more remote areas of the country.
The CGH looks to bolster Guyana’s secondary-care system to enhance care in interior regions, the press release said.
“We’re also partnering with Northwell’s Center for Emergency Medical Services about pre-hospital transport in the jungle. When patients need to come to GPHC for complex services and imaging, they can transport them quickly and efficiently to a tertiary-level care, quickly, efficiently and safely,” Dr. Cioe Peña is quoted as saying.
“We also have to make sure we’re treating people in that secondary hospital – that generally consists of one emergency room bay and one operating room – and have those physicians’ practice at their highest level of their license,” he added.
The three week-visit also includes meetings with the President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, to finalise the five-year strategy and discuss long-term housing needs for medical residents training in the country.
Dr. Cioe Peña noted that CGH is in “for the long haul”.
“When people hear about these initiatives, they think about a quick ‘get in and get out’ mission. Our partnership in Guyana, like our other partnerships in India and Ecuador, is about connection; that eventually, when a patient steps into a Northwell facility, there is a greater understanding of that individual and what’s important to them and their community. That’s what the core of Raise Health is about,” he is quoted as saying.
