Port Loyola Polyclinic Remains Closed After Mold Contamination

If you live on Belize City’s southside and rely on the Port Loyola Polyclinic, you’ve probably noticed that it’s still closed. The reason is a mold contamination. And while the Ministry of Health says the shutdown was a precaution, the impact on the community is real. This clinic is a lifeline for many, and its closure has raised serious concerns about access to care and patient safety. So, what’s being done to fix the problem? Tanya Arceo takes a closer look.

 

Tanya Arceo, Reporting

The Port Loyola Polyclinic has long served as a critical healthcare hub for residents of Belize City’s southside. But with its recent closure due to mold contamination, many patients have been left without a nearby option for essential medical services. We spoke with Dr. Abraham Flowers, who emphasized that the Port Loyola Polyclinic is a vital part of healthcare delivery. He noted that many people in the area depend on it for both urgent and chronic care. Dr. Flowers also acknowledged the mold issue, pointing out that healthcare facilities must undergo regular maintenance to ensure safety and functionality. He says closure is a serious matter that must be addressed quickly for the sake of public health.

 

Abraham Flowers, Port Loyola Resident

“The Port Loyola Polyclinic is very vital for the Port Loyola community and the only thing I can suggest is that without them having a clinic back here, there is very high possibility that they’re going to go either to Cleopatra White or Matron Roberts which we got to keep in mind that the overcrowding of these facilities the residents of Port Loyola can apply more pressure on them we can say currently that they are already overburdened with the patients, the influx of patients, and imagine now that they’re receiving patients from Port Loyola. Matter of fact I strongly advise that you don’t even fix this I strongly advise that they break this down and build a bigger one because we got to understand that we are dealing with a population that is expanding every year.”

 

Tanya Arceo

“The mold situation that led to the closure, do you think it points to deeper structural or maintenance issues in public health facilities?”

 

Abraham Flowers

“These facilities needs to have health inspection, they need to be inspected regularly, and from there they could have detected if there were any kind of concern and we know that mold just doesn’t appear like that, you need to have certain factors and conditions, there needs to be moisture, poor ventilation and above all lack of maintenance”

 

Beyond the technical concerns, it’s the residents who feel the impact most. We visited the Port Loyola area to speak with several persons who once relied on the clinic, to find out how the closure has affected them and where they’re now seeking care.

 

Tanya Arceo

“How has the closure of the polyclinic affected you or your family members?”

 

Bernadine Hamilton, Port Loyola Resident

“Yes well, it affects us real bad because everybody in this area is used to this clinic, and knowing that the clinic closed almost three to four months now and they have to go further some of them just come here and they turn back and for me I don’t really use the polyclinic much because I use Sister Cecilia the Mercy Clinic Center but for my kids and grand kids that come to the clinic it is really bad because sometimes you don’t have all the time to go to Karl Heusner or Cleopatra White”.

 

Erna Jones, Port Loyola Resident

“Well I would say it affects me, because getting at my age and having to walk far to another clinic, I go to Mercy Clinic now, I really miss the clinic, I do really miss the clinic and I do believe they need to open it back”

 

Nicholas Carrero, Port Loyola Resident

“When I get a little sickness or so I go there otherwise just like that”

 

Tanya Arceo

“And where do you go for medical assistance now?”

 

Nicholas Carrero

“Well where I go now I go nowhere because I don’t have no authority see what I mean so that’s what I would say, right now I don’t go nowhere”

 

We also reached out to Dr. Melissa Diaz-Musa, Director of Public Health, who shared an update via message. Mental health services from Port Loyola Polyclinic have been moved to the Welcome Resource Center, which can handle outpatient care. Nearby southside clinics, including NHI facilities, are stepping in to help patients. But there’s still no timeline for reopening the polyclinic, even as mental health services are back up and running Tanya Arceo for News Five.