$5.2 Million Project Targets Four Health Facilities

The Ministry of Health and Wellness is looking to improve services at four health facilities across the country through a five-point-two-million-US-dollar project in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank. The project includes expansions at the Northern and Southern Regional Hospitals, room for additional patients at the Palm Centre for Mental Health and infrastructure upgrades at the Matron Roberts Polyclinic.

 

Lizett Bell, Deputy Director, Hospital Services

“So today this event is an early marketing event for purposes of procurement. The Ministry of Health and Wellness in collaboration with the IDB, we are executing a project with regards to improving quality and efficiency in healthcare services. So as part of this project, we have an infrastructure component that we are retrofitting four of our health facilities to safe and smart hospital standards. With regards to the Palm Centre Long Term Mental Health Facility, we are doing a major expansion. The objective is for us to be able to now house twenty-five additional patients, so we are expanding with a whole new wing and also we are optimizing the facility in such a way to ensure that it is safe for all our patients that we have there and also for our healthcare workers. With regards to Matron Roberts Polyclinic here in Belize City, we are looking at doing some improvements with the retrofitting of their roofing, issues surrounding drainage as well, and water and some general aesthetics of the building.”

 

Hospital Upgrades Improve Emergency, Maternity Care

 

When every second counts, the condition of a hospital’s emergency department can make all the difference. Now, the Ministry of Health and Wellness is preparing major upgrades at the Northern and Southern Regional Hospitals to expand emergency services and improve the way both facilities respond to patients. The project will also strengthen maternity care at the Southern Regional Hospital. Deputy Director of Hospital Services Lizett Bell explains what will change and how the improvements are expected to benefit patients.

 

Lizett Bell, Deputy Director, Hospital Services

“The expansion of Southern Regional Hospital emergency area will now look at expanding the A&E to be able to have two sections for trauma, expand the observation bay, and also include three new triage areas to also expand the obstetric triage services. The current area that we use for labour and delivery now will be retrofitted and will only be used now for labour. And an entire expansion will be attached for us to have two private delivery rooms and also space for the relative to support the woman during that process. With regards to the Northern Regional Hospital, the project is mostly focused on expansion of services at the accident and emergency area. As you know, the area is very small, and we can only keep, at the moment, I believe it’s about four patients in observation. So it’s going to be able to have, similarly, sections for trauma care, the emergency obstetric triage and an expanded area for observation  and also a particular area for the patients to be able to wait and their family members as well.”

 

The project also includes upgrades to the operating theatre suites and central sterilising unit at the Southern Regional Hospital, along with improvements to its morgue and wastewater treatment system.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

Watch the full newscast here: