The Academic Pediatric Center Suriname (APCS)
The APCS was founded to expand and improve the pediatric department at the Academic Hospital Paramaribo. The first initiative of the APCS was the creation of a small Neonatal Care Facility (NCF) with Suriname’s first Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in 2008. Soon after the opening, the amount of critically ill newborns appeared greater than the capacity of the NCF. To expand the NCF a new building was created in 2014. In addition, Suriname’s first Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) was built next door to the NICU, thus creating the Staatsolie NICU/PICU center.
On March 30th 2015 the NCF moved to a new and modern environment with new equipment (i.e., ventilators, incubators, air-humidifiers, ultrasound machines and multi-parameter monitors). Personnel was trained in neonatal intensive care and capacity for mechanical ventilation and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) was doubled. Total capacity of the NCF is now 26 beds. The NICU has 10 beds, the high care has 6 beds, and the medium care 10 beds. Data shows that improvement of the NCF has led to more treatment of newborns from other hospitals, emphasizing its centralized and tertiary function in Suriname, and better outcomes with reduced mortality. Until recently, critically ill children were treated in Suriname’s only adult intensive care unit, where no specific pediatric expertise existed for their treatment, while critically ill children below the age of three months were often admitted to the NICU. After appropriate facilities and personnel were put in place, the new PICU started treating patients in November 2017 and is now serving as the only tertiary referral center in Suriname for critically ill children.
The APCS now includes a NICU and PICU that rank amongst the most modern in the region. Total expense for the new buildings and equipment for the NICU and PICU was 2.6 million US dollars. Since there were no architects or contractors available within Suriname with experience in designing a NICU or PICU, guidelines from developed countries and local creativity and practical experience were used to realize the project within budget, without the need for expensive consultants. For example, one of the savings came from using venturi mechanism based suction devices powered by compressed air, avoiding the need for a separate central vacuum system. Still on the agenda are improvements to the general pediatric wards for which additional funding is necessary.
