Cabinet Ministers Tour Facility.
THE Owen King EU Hospital is almost ready to begin operation.
This was the news that came out of a tour of the facility last Friday by members of the Cabinet headed by acting Prime Minister Guy Joseph.
The cabinet was met by management and nursing heads from the Victoria Hospital and the Commissioning Team for the OKEUH, who took the Ministers on an extensive three hour tour of the facility. Senator Isaac said that Cabinet is acquainting itself with what this hospital has to offer to the people of St. Lucia and the wider Caribbean.
She said: “Sometimes people are skeptical about big projects like that and until you actually see it you cannot understand the stage that it is at. So, the tour today is really to show the Ministers the status of the hospital, how much of it has been completed, what stage of equipping the hospital is at, and how feasible it may be to meet the deadline that we have set, the end of November, for its opening.”
Commissioning Director for the Owen King EU Hospital, Dwight Calixte said the hospital is near completion and the past months have seen the installation of a number of long awaited pieces of equipment in all areas of the facility.
He said: “From A&E down to Maternity and all to the wards, everything has been equipped. We have also started the initial certification of the building in terms of electrical. We have done our water testing. We have started our testing of the quality of air. So we are looking at establishing all of the particular standards. Outstanding is the testing of our gases which we are already on top of. What we have to do at this particular juncture in reference to the gases is to engage a certified company (from) Martinique to get that done”.
Calixte said that with the exception of our labs, every piece of equipment for the hospital has been brought in. He added: “So all that is necessary with respect to the move is transferable equipment that is going to come from Victoria so that we have a complete suite of services within the new hospital.”
Minister Joseph expressed his gratitude to the staff for facilitating the tour which he said places the Cabinet of Ministers in a better position as to the way forward for the new hospital.
He said: “There are some decisions we must make in relation to the hospital moving forward. Opening time, whether we are going to do a partial opening or a full opening and I don’t think it’s a decision we could have made in isolation of actually seeing where we are with the hospital and what needs to happen. So, it’s on this basis that we are carrying out this tour today so that everybody can be aware, and there is an appreciation by all the Cabinet Ministers as to where things are at so we can make a decision from an informed position rather than what we are told.”
Joseph also shared his impressions of the Owen King EU Hospital. He said: “Very impressive! It is a state of the art facility, the services that are available here, the equipment that is there, I think it is going to put us on the cutting edge of providing the kind of health service that is required. It can put us in a position where for every major situation we don’t necessarily have to fly our people to Martinique, Barbados or Trinidad, that we can provide some of the much needed services right here in St. Lucia.”
The government of St. Lucia has expressed its eagerness to have the Owen King EU Hospital and the St. Jude Hospital opened and available to the people of St. Lucia in the quickest possible time.