Falmouth Hospital gets ambulance, plans for improved healthcare
Published:Friday | January 20, 2023 | 12:09 AMLeon Jackson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
CHAIRMAN OF Falmouth Hospital in Trelawny, Ken Grant, has set an ambitious agenda to improve the quality of healthcare delivered at the institution in 2023.
Already, one item on the agenda has been ticked off as a success, as the hospital recently received a new ambulance.
“We have a new ambulance at the hospital. I expect that another will be delivered by April. An agency is working with us, and a third, I am 80 per cent sure, will be there by the end of the year,” Grant disclosed.
“As of now we will not be totally dependent on the emergency medical service based at the fire station.”Dr Leighton Perrins, the senior medical officer, expressed appreciation that the ambulance is now part of its fleet.
“Any kind of improvement is very welcomed,” said Perrins. “In relation to the ambulance, it will make it easier for us to transfer patients to other health facilities for services we do not offer.”
The chairman is also hopeful that the facility will benefit from the addition of a $200-million 35-bed ward that was built on the compound at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, to cater for patients affected by the infection. Presently, there are no COVID-19 patients at the hospital and Grant expressed hope that it remains that way.
He said: “It is my wish that there will not be a resurgence of COVID. If that wish comes true then the 35 beds which are now used to accommodate female surgical patients will remain that way, thus adding to the bed count at the hospital.”
REPAIRS NEEDED
Grant also hopes that Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) will have its repairs completed as that is expected to ease some of the pressure on the healthcare infrastructure in the parish capital.
“Presently, the old Accident and Emergency (A&E) area at Falmouth accommodates 25 beds, all occupied by patients from (CRH),” he informed. The roof at the A&E area now in need of repair, is another item on the chairman’s agenda.
“I can tell you of repairs to three areas at the hospital. The roof at A&E, the dietary area and the walkway leading from the car park to the hospital proper will receive needed attention,” Grant noted.
The presence of ‘social patients’ is another area of concern for the hospital’s administrators.
“They occupy needed bed space and it costs a lot of money to keep them,” Grant explained. “We are working on a solution to the problem. Hopefully, before long the problem can be fixed.”
Also, Grant, an unrelenting advocate for Falmouth Hospital, is pushing for the hospital to be upgraded to Type B, which will enable a number of critical healthcare services. A Type B hospital offers general surgery, obstetrics, gynaecology, paediatric medicine, and secondary care service, all of which are not presently offered at Falmouth.
“Once the items on my agenda are achieved I will be going to the Ministry of Health to have Falmouth Hospital designated as Type B,” said Grant. “Then I can feel comfortable having achieved my set ambition when I became chairman.”