Having spent several millions to procure a much needed Hybrid Machine to help improve the operation of the Caribbean Heart Institute (CHI), Government is still unable to complete a Cardiac Cath Laboratory toThe Hybrid machine covered with a tarpaulin on the ground floor of the GPHCaccommodate this pricey investment.Since last year,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, the Hybrid Machine sits on the ground floor of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, covered by a tarpaulin. It has never been used. However, Government is already expected to fork out some US$1 million of tax payers’ money to fix the machine which has sustained some damage.Based on an agreement between Government and General Electric (GE – the company that supplied the machine),Cheap NFL Football Jerseys, a suitable room, in this case the Cardiac Cath Laboratory, must be completed to accommodate the machine which will be transported and installed by GE technicians. And should the conditions of supply and installation not be adhered to, Government would be expected to stand any additional cost. “There is no telling whether the machine has developed any problems because it is sitting unused in conditions that it was not intended to be,” said one official close to the Ministry of Health who made reference to the current storage location of the machine.But of even more concern, is whether GE will be willing to honour its warranty for the equipment. This is in light of the fact that GE has made it clear that because of its improper storage there is no guarantee that the equipment will function optimally when installed.Kaieteur News has tried on countless occasions to ascertain the cause for the delay of the project.The Ministry of Health through the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) made a pact with CHI to work as a public/private partnership.CHI, which is accommodated at GPHC, was officially commissioned in 2006 and soon after started offering crucial heart operations with keen plans on expanding its services.But this publication understands that the expansion plans will have to be put on hold because of the delay of the Lab.The Lab, according to reports reaching this publication, should have been completed within a two-month period but close to 18 months later is still incomplete.Based on reports reaching this publication, around 2011 the management of CHI had consulted with Government about acquiring a new Cardiac Cath Lab, in light of the fact that its equipment was nearing the end of its lifespan.The expectation was that with the lab in place both cardiology intervention and cardiac surgery would have been possible in a single room using the Hybrid machine, thereby, allowing for Guyana to possibly be the first in the Caribbean to offer such advanced technology.The delay in the completion of the Lab has therefore resulted in the stalling of expansion plans for CHI and even worse is the possibility that the facility’s operation may be in jeopardy. According to Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CHI,Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping, Dr Gary Stephens, who in December of last year expressed concern about the prevailing state of affairs, “any day now our machine can suffer a catastrophic failure and even if it doesn’t, I don’t see us surviving the next six months.”This publication understands that CHI was forced to expend in excess of $60M to ensure that its current equipment remain in working order.? According to Dr. Stephens, without urgent progression of the project, the future of CHI will remain uncertain and “it’s a shame after all the hard work and goodwill that kept it afloat. I hope we will survive but the service we offer will be restricted.”The development, this publication was informed, has not been very comforting to CHI staffers.Outside of the basic Echocardiogram and Stress Testing services, CHI also provides angiograms, angioplasty,Wholesale Jerseys, stent placement, open-heart surgery, and has expertise to address congenital defects such as holes in the heart. It also caters to the implantation of devices such as pacemakers, intra-cardiac defibrillators and cardiac resynchronization. The latter was in fact, an historic procedure undertaken by CHI last year.CHI’s track record suggests that it is able to conduct some 200 angiograms on an annual basis, while statistics show that in 2013 alone about 50 open-heart operations were conducted, an increase from previous years. In 2013 too, about 25 pacemakers and device implantations were done, and according to CHI’s Interventional Cardiologist,Cheap NFL Jerseys Supply, Dr Mahendra Carpen, during an interview last year, weekly clinics attract about 500 patients and were likely to attract mo