Minister For Health To Address Waiting Time At VH Transition To OKEU Hospital

For a very long time, the complaints about the excessive waiting time at Victoria Hospital have been incessant and officials of the Ministry of Health and the Management of Victoria Hospital have sought to allay the fears of the general public about the Triage management at the island’s main health institution.

Last week, Minister for Health and Wellness, Mary Isaac, gave an update on these developments, assuring the public that her ministry has been working feverishly to address this situation
“People really need to see things changing. They want to see less time being spent at the emergency room at Victoria Hospital because sometimes you go there and you spend too much time waiting to see a doctor. So these are some of the issues we are working on. We are hoping that with the move to the new hospital, we are going to see a lot of improvement in our healthcare system,” Isaac said.

The Minister said the transition to the Owen King-EU Hospital will hopefully assist in relieving the pressure on Victoria Hospital whose staff are presently undergoing intensive training.

She added: “Of course, moving to a new hospital does not just automatically take away the problems. So the workers are getting training as we speak and are familiarizing themselves with the environment. We are hoping there is going to be a new work ethic and we are going to provide the necessary training to ensure that happens because for too long we’ve had nurses working under terrible, horrible conditions.
And sometimes as a result of that people can become lackadaisical. With the new environment will also come training as well as the expectation that there will be better delivery of healthcare and better standard of healthcare.”

How soon will the new OKEU Hospital be ready to accommodate clients? The question was posed to the Minister.

“We’ve already started the move. It’s going to be done on a gradual basis. Some administrative activities are already taking place at the new hospital. We are looking at moving different segments that can be moved. We have also ordered the dialysis machines and we’re expecting that as soon as they get on island they will be put in the new hospital,” the Minister said.

The new Owen King-EU Hospital is a gift to St. Lucia by the European Union valued at EC$ 167 million.