PARAMARIBO – Due to the limited number of specialized nurses at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) of the Academic Hospital Paramaribo (AZP) only four patients can currently be admitted. “We should have more personnel to enable to provide healthcare to at least 8 patients. The 4 a beds that are available are currently occupied which means that we can’t admit any additional patients to these units and those additional patients have nowhere else to go for the special healthcare that their child needs,” said Amadu Juliana, chairman of the medical staff at the AZP on Tuesday.

It was made clear by the Medical Board that the nurses and the paramedics must be given a raise soon in order to keep them from leaving the AZP and the country. Reports indicate that 88 nurses have left the nation’s healthcare sector to find a better future in another country. It is expected that at least an additional 112 nurses will also exit Suriname. Hospital officials are therefore asking for structural investments to be made in training programs and to give the nation’s nurses a raise. The management team at the AZP indicated that a brain drain allowance was introduced in 2023 to keep nurses from leaving. Nurses who meet certain criteria will reportedly be given a raise of SRD 5,000 per month. Medical students, co-assistants and doctors who recently graduated will also be deployed at the crucial wards. The administration of President Chandrikapersad Santokhi hopes that these measures will slow down the brain drain…[+]