Jonny Chard | News Editor
Featured image: Dr. Narendra Singh, current Schulich EMBA student, is the chief of staff Toronto’s Humber River Regional Hospital. | Courtesy of YFile
A Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA student has become the recipient of the prestigious Meritorious Service Medal, one of Canada’s highest honours.
Dr. Narendra Singh, who is also chief of staff at Toronto’s Humber River Regional Hospital, was presented the award by His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnson, governor general of Canada on March 9.
Singh has been working towards reducing the neonatal and infant mortality rates in Guyana, which has one of the highest rates in the Western world.
In 2016, the total infant mortality rate was 31.5 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Through Guyana Help the Children, Singh is aiming to improve neonatal care with comprehensive education for local physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals and the obtainment of specialized equipment.
“The foundation for any sustainable program has to be education,” he stated.
In collaboration with the local government, he has created a program at Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, or GPHC, to bring technology to the country using in-person volunteer doctors and a virtual classroom that can be used to provide guidance from anywhere in the world.
“Before we started this program, Guyana had only two pediatricians,” said Singh.
“To date, we have trained over 10 pediatricians and over 50 nurses […] Early individuals that we trained are now becoming educators, so we are close to it becoming a self-sufficient program,” he added.
After one year with the program, neonatal mortality at GPHC has decreased by 40 per cent, saving over 150 babies.
Having opened two new Neonatal Intensive Care Units in Linden and New Amsterdam, Singh hopes to expand the program to regional hospitals in Suddie and West Demerara.
Through the Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA program, Singh is looking to gain the administrative, managerial and financial skills necessary to employ the non-profit model in other high-risk countries.
