The South Unfolds

AS the DSH Project unfolds in grand style, the detractors have remained stunned. The south of the island is now open for business as the first batch of 200 young St Lucians mainly from the southern area embark on a new life with a group of professionals to guide them in the right direction and this is not all as the DSH investors have now embarked upon the construction of a 250 room hotel which will be fully completed by December 2020 and within that facility a grand area has been prepared for a top notch medical school at the behest of an IVY League University from the United States. As of February 2020, some 75 to 150 construction workers will be required on that project. The new St Jude Hospital is now well on its way with over 300 tons of prefabricated steel presently being implanted in the first phase of the foundation. The existing St Jude’s facility at the stadium has received in the last six months an infusion of equipment bringing the facility at par with any current hospital. Listed below are the items now available to the patients in the south: 

1. A brand-new upgraded ambulance
2. A focused assessment sonography in Trauma capable in identifying:
   • Eco Cardiography
   • Identifying – Pneumothorax, Pneumonia
   • Pericardial and pleural Effusion
   • Soft tissue scanning – abscess, cellulitis, foreign body
   • Venous Doppler -DVT
   • Cardiac contractility
   • Renal stones, hydronephrosis
3. An increase of 5 dialysis machines bringing the total from 7 to 12, thereby reducing the waiting list of patients from 32 to 18.
4. Out of a shipment of 70 new beds, 30 have already been installed.

50% of all furnishings have already been installed and the remainder will be brought in within the next 90 days

All partitions / dividers between beds have been replaced. The total staff at the facility now stands at 380 showing an increase of some 30 members. New measures implemented have shown that there were earnings of some $2 million annually from initially 0. As a result, all the aforementioned enhancements were executed from inhouse finances.

In addition to these projects, the construction of the US $250 million HIA Terminal has taken center stage, and this week a brand-new FBO for private jets has been fully completed which augurs well for the influx of private jets. In addition to all these enhancements Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Lines which represents 75% of the total cruise industry to St Lucia has signed a memorandum of understanding with government to upgrade the Castries Port and construct a brand-new facility in the south for home porting. Once all these projects take effect, the south of the island will finally experience the critical mass to address the lingering poverty and depression within that part of St Lucia.