Sav Hospital facing bed space crisis as social cases climb
Published:Saturday | October 7, 2023 | 12:07 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
AN INCREASE in social patients, dengue, and respiratory cases has pushed the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital in Westmoreland beyond its operational capacity into a bed space crisis.
Camille Lewin, chief executive officer (CEO) at the hospital, says social cases are actually where the problem lies, in terms of the crisis the hospital is now facing with finding adequate bed space.
She stated that in the last three months, the number of social cases has increased so much that patients with emergencies who are admitted are not able to find a comfortable bed to be treated.
“Our numbers have been rising. In July and August, we were at 22, the count for social cases, and this month we are at 32,” Lewin told The Gleaner this week.
She said the hospital’s social worker is actively working with the social patients, but their relatives are reluctant to collect them from the hospital, claiming that they do not have the resources and that the hospital is the best place for them.
“We appealed for persons to come and get their relatives, but that has not gotten anywhere,” the hospital CEO said. “They have not been coming. If they were, we would not have gotten to 32, and two were added to the list over the weekend.”
NO ADEQUATE SPACE
Lewin said the hospital has adequate beds in stock, but noted that she does not have the physical space in which to put them.
The hospital, according to her, has a bed capacity of 190 but, on Tuesday, they were experiencing an intake of approximately 100 additional patients.
“Last weekend, we got to 291, and this morning we have 284 plus five babies,” Lewin revealed.
In an effort to mitigate the crisis, the hospital CEO said beach chairs are now being used to accommodate patients on its accident and emergency (A&E) ward.
“We have converted one of our A&E’s waiting rooms into somewhat of a ward to make the patients more relaxed and comfortable,” she said as the hospital buckled under the crisis.
Additionally, she said, on any given day, the hospital admission rate is between 45 and 53 people.
“When we had the COVID pandemic at its peak, we had gotten some beach chairs from some of the hotels. So that’s what we’ve been using now to put patients on in the waiting area,” Lewin said.
SURGE IN ADMISSION
She further revealed that the surge in the number of patients is related to both dengue and other respiratory illnesses.
“We had 16 [on September 28] but we have also seen a rise in the number of respiratory illnesses – not to say that they are COVID, but we have to treat them with care,” she noted.
Tajay Murray, a 29-year-old male patient who has spinal issues, told The Gleaner on Tuesday that he had been on the emergency ward for the last two days, sitting and sleeping on a beach chair or in a wheelchair.
“There are too many patients here in critical condition and there is no bed for us. I have been here since Monday morning and I am making the best of the situation in this wheelchair,” Murray said as our news team visited the emergency ward.
“My back is hurting me, but I have to see with them as I try to cope with their system,” he said.
“They are trying their best. There are so many people in critical condition like myself who really need a bed … . I can’t sit up too long because of my spinal cord injuries,” Murray added.