Sav-la-Mar Hospital’s medical pipes almost ready– WRHA
Published:Tuesday | June 18, 2019 | 12:22 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Errol Greene, regional director of the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA), says that the installation of pipes for medical gas at the Savanna-la-Mar Public Hospital in Westmoreland is near completion and that similar work will start soon at the Falmouth Public Hospital in Trelawny.
In an interview with The Gleaner yesterday, Greene said the installation work at the Savanna-la-Mar hospital, which started in January and entails piping for medical oxygen at the Type B facility, is all but finished.
95 per cent complete
“I am told that the work at Savanna-la-Mar Hospital is 95 per cent complete. I was at Savanna-la-Mar on Thursday, June 13, and I inspected the work, and they are waiting on one instrument to make the connection there,” said Greene.
On completion, the pipes to supply medical gas will replace the old practice of transporting heavy cylinders of oxygen and other gases to various locations throughout the facility in order to provide treatment to patients.
When quizzed about the status of similar installations that are earmarked to take place in other hospitals in the WRHA’s jurisdiction, Greene said that plans are now being put in place to commence work on the operating theatre at Falmouth Hospital. However, he did not provide a timeline for that project.
“We are doing some similar work at Falmouth Hospital at the moment. It is not for the entire hospital. We are doing their operating theatre now,” said Greene, who stated that the WRHA is now looking for the funding to cover a full project in Falmouth.
The installation of piped medical gas at the two western hospitals would follow similar work done at the St Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital in 2016.
That installation was part of a J$300-million upgrade to the facility, which included a J$23-million expansion and equipping of the hospital’s paediatric nursery and construction of a female medical ward valued at J$136.7 million.