WRHA’s hospitals in emergency mode ahead of tropical storm, says Fray
Published:Tuesday | November 5, 2024 | 12:09 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
As Jamaica braced for Tropical Storm Rafael, which was expected to impact the island early this morning, the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) said its hospitals are all in emergency mode, with services scaled back until Thursday at the latest.
Dr Delroy Fray, the clinical coordinator at the WRHA, told The Gleaner yesterday that, in anticipation of the weather system, the authority was in a state of complete readiness.
“We have put our emergency mode into operation, and what it involves is that we are not going to do any clinic work on Tuesday, or any elective surgeries. For the patients who can go home, we are going to send them home, because we do not know what the weather will do at this time, and I suspect that, by Tuesday evening, we will see what is happening and then we will move back to normal by Thursday morning,” said Fray.
“What we have to do is free up our beds, because, if the weather is bad, probably some doctors and nurses cannot come in for duty. We have an emergency contingency where, for whoever is on duty at that point, we will provide meals for them and a place for them to sleep in the event that others cannot come in,” Fray explained. “We also have to make space in the event that anybody gets injured. And we do not want them to languish, we have to look after them.”
Fray noted that all of the WRHA’s hospitals are stocked with the necessary supplies to weather the expected storm conditions, including adequate water and medication.
“We are in that preparation mode and, by now, we should have all of that preparation completed. We are stocked up on our water supply, food supply, and medication, all of those things, and we have pulled out all of our emergency items right now,” said Fray.
He was speaking one day after Tanique Bailey-Small, the medical officer of health for St James, addressed an emergency online stakeholder meeting about the St James Health Department’s readiness to provide healthcare during the passage of the storm.
“We have to monitor things closely to determine if we have to scale down services at some of our facilities, based on where they are located. But what we want to focus on is to ensure that we are able to provide as many services as possible, for as long as possible. Of course, if it is that we will have to scale back in terms of primary care, then we will have to make some adjustments in terms of the services offered, and some clients [patients] who may be stable enough may be discharged,” Bailey-Small told Sunday’s meeting.
Yesterday, the University Hospital of the West Indies issued a similar notice announcing the closure of all clinics and non-emergency services until further notice, while also stating that the hospital would be open only for dire emergencies.