Savanna-la-Mar Hospital hit by social patients issue

WESTERN BUREAU:

The Management committee of the 57-year-old Type B Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital in Westmoreland is bemoaning the fact that some 25 persons who have been abandoned by their relatives are now taking up much-needed bed space at the facility, to the detriment of persons who are genuinely ill.

“They have nowhere to go, their families have left them with us,” said Reverend Joseph Campbell, the chairman of the management committee. “Some of these persons have been discharged from medical care since 2008, and therefore have no reasons to be housed on the wards.”

According to Campbell, the committee has written to the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation (WMC), seeking their intervention in relocating the persons in question to the Savanna-la-Mar Infirmary but, to date, they have not received a positive response.

“Presently, we are negotiating with the parish council to see if they can make available adequate space at the infirmary, where some of these persons that are occupying our bed space could be relocated,” Campbell told The Gleaner on Monday.

Campbell also noted that the hospital’s management committee has been actively seeking to reclaim its bed space with a view to having its full complement of 200 beds properly allotted.

In a letter dated April 8, the committee wrote to the WMC stating: “The Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital is seeking your assistance in finding a suitable facility for some 25 indigent persons who are presently living on the wards, occupying beds needed for patients admitted to the hospital, but are accommodated in less than suitable conditions.”

According to Campbell, he believes that if an appeal is made to the wider Westmoreland business community, space could be created at the infirmary for the persons in question.

“We are yet to sit as a committee to decide our next course of action, but we were also wondering if we could find people in the business community who could assist in making resources available so that the parish council could put on additional rooms at the infirmary so that these persons could be accommodated,” said Campbell.

When The Gleaner contacted Savanna-la-Mar Mayor Bertel Moore, who is also the chairman of the WMC, he said the infirmary does not have space to immediately provide living facilities to the abandoned persons.

ADEQUATE LAND SPACE

“We have adequate property in terms of land space there, so that if they (health department) can get a building erected, we would not have a problem,” said Moore, who noted that a new male ward is now under construction at the infirmary.

The mayor said the challenges being faced in relocating the persons who have been abandoned is squarely one for the Ministry of Health and Wellness, but noted that the corporation stands ready to assist where possible.

“Once the funding is there to do it, we won’t have a problem,” said Moore, in supporting Campbell’s suggestion to seek financial support from the local business community.

“I had suggested that the Ministry of Health seek assistance from Food For The Poor. I think this would be the easiest way in providing assistance for those people at this time,” added Moore.