it is not as important as to upgrade the Maternity Unit.”However

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No one from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and the privately-operated Cancer Institute of Guyana (CIG) is willing to say how much money the hospital pays to the entity for CT (computed tomography) scans annually.CEO Michael KhanThe Cancer Institute came into existence in 2006 via a collaborative effort with the Government of Guyana.The company does CT scans, MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and is the only local institution which diagnoses and treats cancer.Since CIG came into existence, the GPHC has been assisting in funding half the cost per scan for every patient and in most cases, the hospital pays the entire amount, which sometimes adds up to $23,000.A CT Scan uses a computer that takes data from several X-ray images of structures inside a human’s body and converts them into pictures on a monitor so that medical practitioners could immediately diagnosed the problem.All accident patients are required to do a CT scan to determine the extent of their injuries and accidents are frequent at the hospital. On an average day, approximately 10 patients from GPHC are required to do a CT scan.Recently, there have been some concerns over the amount of money being paid to the Cancer Institute of Guyana annually, but no one from both institutes are willing to disclosed the amount being paid by the hospital.The hospital’s Chief Executive Officer, Michael Khan, in a brief interview with Kaieteur News could not provide this newspaper with the cost being paid to the private entity, but when asked if the hospital has any plans to import a CT machine, Khan explained that it is very costly to operate.“It costs a lot of money to operate; the other thing is power and the maintenance of it. If the machine goes down you have to fly in people to fix it,” Khan said. He added that, “It is an important tool in diagnosing, but in my eyes, it is not as important as to upgrade the Maternity Unit.”However, he said that he included a CT Machine in this year’s budget, but it is up to the Ministry of Finance to approve it.