Roll-out of revamped Emergency Medical Services to start next year – Dr Anthony

Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony has disclosed that from as early as next year, elements of the revamped Emergency Medical Services will start to be rolled out, as the government works with New York-based Northwell Health to streamline and modernise this critical aspect of the healthcare sector.

In a video posted on the Ministry of Health’s social media page, Dr Anthony noted that “starting from early next year, you will see us start introducing elements of this and over the next couple of years, the system would be fully built-out and you will have a new Emergency Medical Services that would be run by a semi-autonomous authority”.

In September, the Guyana Government signed an agreement with Northwell Health to overhaul and manage the Emergency Medical Services over the next three years, while the country builds local capacity.

The plan includes the establishment of a national ambulance authority that will oversee the co-ordination to cover emergency dispatch via land, sea and air. That authority is likely to be set up at the Infectious Diseases Hospital, formerly the Oceanview Hotel.

Elaborating on the initiative, Dr Anthony explained that the partnership will result in all ambulances being updated and standardised, and all Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) being appropriately trained.

“All of ambulances will be equipped with various things to keep people alive while they transport them maybe from the site of an accident to the hospital,” the Health Minister said.

In addition, he said the pact will see Northwell Health working to improve the standards of dispatch and ensuring that worldclass protocols are developed and followed.

The Government is also looking at establishing a central telemedicine centre at the Oceanview facility. The telemedicine programme is one of the initiatives that Guyana has been collaborating with Northwell Health, which is a non-profit integrated healthcare service that is considered New York’s largest healthcare provider, on to modernise the local healthcare sector.
Back in 2022, Guyana inked a five-year medical partnership with Northwell to, among other things, enhance care, train physicians, address health disparities, assess hinterland regions, and strengthen the secondary-care system.

Since then, the telemedicine programme has been expanded and now operates across 81 sites, thus enabling two-way, real-time communication between patients and healthcare providers in different locations, supported by audio-visual technology and integrated medical devices. The initiative targets hinterland and riverine communities, aiming to improve patient outcomes and emergency response capabilities.
Northwell Health is among several United States-based medical institutions that the Guyana Government has been collaborating with, another being Mount Sinai Hospital, to enhance the delivery of its healthcare services.

Already, six new state-of-the-art regional hospitals have been constructed across Guyana at Diamond, Enmore, Bath, Number 75 Village, De Kinderen, and Lima as part of efforts to deliver high-quality healthcare to citizens. Additionally, all healthcare facilities across all ten administrative regions are being upgraded.