Water shortage Forced two-day cancellation of some services At Grove Health Centre

A SHORTAGE OF RUNNING WATER this week forced the cancellation of some services at
the Grove Health Centre dashing expectations of scores of patients.
The East Bank health centre has been under extra pressure to provide services for residents
following the temporary closure of the Diamond Diagnostic Centre (DDC) for repairs and
conversion to one of several SMART hospitals in the country.
Patients for dental and diabetic foot services had to be turned away because water to the facility
was absent.
“I came here since 7 am and now after waiting this long and thinking that I would have my teeth
extracted I am being told that there is no water. What do they expect me? I work in the
construction field and every time I miss a day, monies are deducted,” a disappointed, but
outraged young patient complained Monday.
The next day, after more than two hours of waiting, those patients too were turned away with a
similar explanation. Water to the health facility stopped flowing over the weekend. At the time
of writing, there was no explanation from the Guyana Water Inc (GWI).
Some patients lost patience and vented their frustrations on a hapless nurse at the Grove Health
Centre who calmly admitted, “we are affected too”
“I feel sorry for the hard-working nurses and doctors as they don’t even have water at their sinks
to wash their hands, and in this time of COVID it’s rough for them because they have to tend to
patients with no running water and this is unacceptable,” an elderly, sympathetic resident said.
While she is outraged at the absence of dental services for her granddaughter, in obvious
unbearable pain, she was forced to seek private sector help.

“This is the second day that we are coming to have her tooth extracted and she is in a lot of pain.
While I really can’t afford to cover the extraction cost at a private clinic, I will have to seek help
from one of my relatives to have the services provided because I can’t take her home yet again
with this pain that she is experiencing. It’s not the nurses’ fault, but rather those that are
responsible for the health centres have to understand that people…need these services,” the
elderly woman said.
Diabetics who needed foot care were also severely inconvenienced Monday and Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, I cannot afford to have a private nurse dress my foot so I would have to wait
until tomorrow, I trust that we are not faced with the same situation as this is embarrassing for
me,” the patient said.
While neither Regional Executive Officer (REO) Mr. Donald Gadraj nor his Deputy, Mr. Deryck
Persaud were available for comments, Regional Health Officer (RHO), Dr. Govinash Persaud,
who is on vacation, was reached and promised expeditious handling of the crisis at the Health
Centre.
“I thank you for reaching out to me as I will address this matter urgently. I am sorry that the
nursing staff and patients are inconvenienced, but I know that my nurses would have sought their
best to have this matter addressed,” the RHO promised.
About an hour later tenders from the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) arrived to fill the water tanks in
the health centre compound.
But by then, most disappointed and exhausted patients had left.