PRESS RELEASE – Three health care facilities in Saint Lucia have been upgraded to be safer, greener and more resilient to natural disasters under the Smart Health Care Facilities Project.
According to the Ministry’s Communication Unit, the official opening of the Desruisseaux, Belle Vue and Mon Repos Wellness Centres was celebrated with ribbon-cutting ceremonies, marking a step in the right direction to ensure Climate Smart and safer health care facilities here.
The unit quoted Minister for Health and Wellness Senator Mary Isaac as saying she was very pleased with the Smart Health Care Facilities project, as it will play a significant part in strengthening health care services in Saint Lucia.
“I am here witnessing the re-opening of three necessary and beautiful facilities.
“For a long time now, our nurses and doctors have had to endure working in a facility or in facilities that were less than adequate with not the level of comfort that they would like.
“But they continue to provide health care for the community as best they could under very challenging conditions and the re-opening of this project today provides them with a reliable source of water and electricity for better lighting,” Isaac said.
The Smart Health Care Facilities Project was implemented by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) with funding from the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID).
PAHO Country Program Specialist Tessa Stroude said her organisation will continue to work with the government to improve the quality of health care services to the people of Saint Lucia.
“Today, we handover to the government of Saint Lucia, three wellness centres which have received small interventions based on smart standards.
“They are not only looking prettier, but also functional and able to run more efficiently to serving needs of these communities and in the long run the people of Saint Lucia,” the PAHO official stated.
Assistant Principal Nursing Officer Tecla Jn Baptiste said she was delighted that health workers received the necessary training to ensure that the facilities can function at their best.
“In order to increase their readiness for all emergencies and to support the upgrade of the fire safety installation, the staff was also engaged in contingency planning workshops.
“Health workers were trained using Smart Hospital parameters in contingency planning and methods to respond effectively to future events emphasising the importance of achieving an A-70 plus score on the hospital safety index,” Jn Baptiste explained.
According to the Ministry of Health, each health care facility was retrofitted under the Smart Health Care Facilities project at the cost of approximately US $100,000.