As we reported previously, we were so fortunate last year to receive a Grant from the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada (Royal College) to establish the Neonatal Network in Guyana. The grant was $90,000 over 3 years with GHTK contributing matching funds.
The project is lead on the ground in Guyana by Dr. Anna Florendo-Chin and she is supported by her Administrative Assistant, O’statia Simon. Dr. Leif Nelin and Dr. Narendra Singh from the GHTK Board of Directors are Advisors and Sponsors for this project.
In addition, GHTK partnered with the Guyanese Ministry of Health and Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and the goal is to have functional Neonatal Units at each of the 7 Rural Regional Hospitals in Guyana.
Since we last reported, the Educators and Coordinators to run the Neonatal Network have been hired, Dr. Florendo-Chin was appointed the Director and Shanesa Russell is the Nurse Coordinator.
The Office of the Guyana Neonatal Network has been open since 2022, and the assessment of the needs of the individual 7 Regional Hospitals began. In Year 1 New Amsterdam and West Demerara Regional Hospitals were reviewed. Educational Programs for both hospitals were designed and delivered.
educational programs targeted neonatal resuscitation, how to provide nasal CPAP (a form of respiratory support that has been shown to save the lives of preterm infants) and when transfer to GPHC should be done.
The educational programs were augmented by the purchase of necessary equipment to care for preterm and sick neonates. In addition to provide support to these “new” Level II neonatal units a “one number to call” was installed between the hospitals and GPHC.
In March 2023, Dr. Nelin and Dr. Singh conducted a site visit to both hospitals and at that time, New Amsterdam had 6 patients in their neonatal unit (which has 6 beds), and 5 of the patients were on CPAP. West Demerara had 7 patients in their neonatal unit (which has 8 beds), 2 of whom were on nasal CPAP, and they were averaging 28 admissions a month.
Thus, in one year, by targeting New Amsterdam and West Demerara it has resulted in clear improvements in the ability of both hospitals to care for preterm and sick neonates. In addition, it enables the babies to be cared for in a safe environment close to their home and families.
The first year of the Guyana Neonatal Network has seen significant improvements in the neonatal care provided to patients, and this is a tribute to the expertise, leadership and dedication of Dr. Anna Florendo-Chin and her team.
Year 2 of the project is now under way and the Team is focusing on Mabaruma and Lethem, which are the most remote hospitals we are working with. We remain grateful to the Royal College for their significant financial support which is enabling GHTK to lead this life saving project in Guyana.
Update on Equipment Purchases
The funding from the Guyanese Ministry of Health for the purchase of updated equipment for the neonatal units in Guyana has almost been completed and the equipment was delivered in June 2023, stored in a secure location and then inventory took place to ensure all the pieces were delivered. We will have a more detailed report in the next month or two as the equipment is distributed to the hospitals in Guyana.
Again, we recognize and express our sincere thanks to Board member, Kelly Pearce and his Assistant Cassandra Cass Pearce for their extraordinary work on this project. We also want to recognize and express our sincere thanks to Aruna Faria and Dr. Anna Florendo-Chin for their work on the ground in Guyana. They played significant roles in receiving and checking the equipment as it arrived.
Global Health Canada Grant As highlighted in our last President’s Update, GHTK along with its partner, McMaster University, has begun the groundwork on the Global Health Canada Grant. GHTK has been fortunate to hire our Project Coordinator in Canada, and we welcome Ms. Nalini Kalladeen to this position. Nalini comes to us with many years’ experience in Senior positions in government, and we are looking forward to her guidance as these initiatives get underway.
Your ongoing support Is very important to us and we wanted to take this time to express our gratitude once again to each of you for your interest and support as we continue our work to ensure “every child deserves a tomorrow”
