Medical professionals and others who operate at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) are living under constant fear of being robbed while on duty.
Guyana Standard was informed that several robberies have been reported in the compound over the last two to three months.
While the instances of robberies in the compound have reportedly decreased, this media house understands that two nights ago “we reached an all-time low.”
“The robbers are in the building now, not just the compound,” said a terrified GPHC worker.
The medical professional told Guyana Standard that an orthopaedic doctor was robbed just outside one of the theaters at gunpoint.
Reports are that the doctor went to the police outpost located in the GPHC compound and was told “to count it as a loss. Just imagine, this is the system we serve.”
The gunpoint robbery is the latest reported case at GPHC.
Medical professionals who spoke to Guyana Standard indicated that when the robberies were happening almost daily, GPHC management issued a “safety advisory”.
The advisory read, “Members of Staff should be on alert at nights when moving around the hospital complex for persons posing as patients in an attempt to rob them of their property.”
Also, staffers working nights were urged not to wear “excessive jewellery.” Staffers, especially women, were urged to ensure that their phones are “properly secured” and to only traverse the compound in the company of two or more others.
This media house understands staffers had asked for increased security but none was provided.
Also, one staffer said that robberies had a small decrease after “one of the attendants beat the hell out of one the thieves who tried to rob him but now it is happening again. We have to use the buddy system and even then we are afraid, especially if is only females.”
