With the successful commissioning of the Dialysis Unit to the newly rehabilitated St. Jude Hospital (Augier site) recently, this marks a major step towards the ongoing efforts of improving healthcare service delivery in Saint Lucia. Individuals requiring dialysis treatment now have a more comfortable, enhanced and modern space to receive care. The dialysis unit at the newly rehabilitated St. Jude Hospital (Augier site) has been upgraded with equipment and also now has available 14 dialysis service stations.
The Ministry of Health, Wellness and Nutrition praised the smooth transition of dialysis services at St. Jude Hospital and ensuring there was uninterrupted life-saving care for patients. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health Jenny Daniel spoke on the measures which were taken by the ministry. “The Ministry of Health is cognizant of the nature of dialysis and the service that is required by dialysis patients; the fact that when you need to be dialyzed, you need to be dialyzed and if you don’t receive the dialysis that is required it can be life threatening. So, we ensured that we had an arrangement in place with the other facilities that normally dialyzed patients referred by the Ministry of Health. We ensured that we put in a system and the finances that would allow for those patients to continue to receive dialysis while the transitioning was taking place. Because during the transitioning process, we would have stopped dialysis at the Stadium and of course the Dialysis Unit would not have been ready to receive patients until today, and so during those days that fall in between, we ensured that there was continuity of services for the patients.”
Jenny Daniel also spoke on the transitioning of the Dialysis Unit to the newly rehabilitated hospital as one which required team work, collaborative effort and support in order to achieve a high standard of care. “The move of the dialysis services from the Stadium to the Augier site has not been an overnight move. I know that the general public has been concerned and clamoring for the quick movement, but the success of the move here today speaks to a lot of foundational work that took place, background work with our technical officers, with Renal Dynamics which has travelled to Saint Lucia to provide us with that support and assistance and ensuring that the correct units were put in place, that the water systems are fully operational and electrical systems, etc. This is what has contributed to the successful move of the dialysis unit.”
Minister for Health, Wellness and Nutrition Hon. Moses Jn Baptiste expressed great excitement and satisfaction following the full commissioning of the Dialysis Unit and reiterated the government’s commitment to strengthen healthcare infrastructure and to also improve overall patient experience. “We know that there are many individuals who live in the south of Saint Lucia who require dialysis services. In our experience, we know over the years many patients had to wait and other patients has to go to Castries for dialysis. This improved department will certainly provide opportunities for individuals from the south who require dialysis. It will help them in terms of transportation, saving transportation cost and also being able to access the service closer to home.”
The Ministry of Health reaffirmed its commitment to advancing healthcare delivery and ensuring that residents in the south of the island continue to benefit from improved health infrastructure and strengthening of health services as the full commissioning of the St. Jude Hospital continues in a phased approach.