Sav Infirmary ready to accept social patients

WESTERN BUREAU:

Mayor of Savanna-la-Mar Bertel Moore says an undisclosed number of social patients at the Savanna-la-Mar hospital will soon be relocated following the construction of a new male ward at the town’s infirmary recently.

Moore, who did not give an exact timeline for the move, said that currently, approximately 25 persons, whose relatives abandoned them at the town’s public hospital, will be facilitated once the new infirmary building is formally opened.

In giving assurance to the hospital’s administration, led by parish manager Novlin Leslie-Little, Moore said the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation (WMC) is ready to ease the strain that has been on the hospital as the new ward is capable of accommodating 50 residents.

“At present, we have 37 [residents], but there are still some out there who need to be in the infirmary,” said Moore, who was speaking at Friday’s ceremony to commission and handover of a $29-million boiler unit at the Type-B Savanna-la-Mar hospital.

Moore said the WMC could not say how many social patients would be accommodated from the hospital, but indicated that the number could be more than what was initially expected.

“I cannot give her (Leslie-Little) a figure as yet, but as we open, I am quite sure the Corporation will ensure that we take some of the social patients,” said Moore. “At present, it is said that the infirmary can hold 50 [residents] but looking at it just last week, we went through it carefully, and we see that it can hold more than 50.”

Leslie-Little said the mayor’s announcement is good news as the challenge of adequately accommodating the social patients at the hospital had been ongoing.

Health and Wellness Minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, who was present at the ceremony, thanked the mayor for coming to the assistance of the hospital.

“Social cases are a real problem in public health. Up to 10 per cent of our bed count are accounted for by people who live in the hospital - some for as far as five, six, seven, eight, nine years - who are eligible clinically to be sent home,” said Dr Tufton.

“Thank you very much, mayor Moore ,and thank you for working with your team to put this infirmary ... including public health, where you know that issue exists,” he said.

Dr Tufton said the Government is now exploring legal angles to have persons who abandon relatives at hospitals held accountable, noting that the matter is now in the hands of the attorney general.

“...the country needs to understand that these cases are having an adverse impact on our hospital bed count and availability. And, where there can be solutions without aggression or legal recourse, we want to find those solutions,” Dr Tufton cautioned as he again urged families to reclaim their abandoned relatives.