Outpatient department at Mandeville hospital being retrofitted for COVID ward
Published:Monday | August 30, 2021 | 3:45 PM
Tamara Bailey, Gleaner Writer
The outpatient department at the Mandeville Regional Hospital in Manchester is being retrofitted to boost accommodation for COVID-19 patients.
It is expected that the space will be ready before the end of the week.
The temporary ward will be able to accommodate approximately 35 patients.
The isolation ward and all previously retrofitted spaces for COVID patients at the hospital remain full.
It is reported that the hospital has a total of 98 positive patients and 24 suspected cases.
To complement the increase in space, Regional Director of the Southern Regional Health Authority Michael Bent informed that the hospital is also moving to boost staffing.
"Overall, we are looking at about 131 staff members in different categories...not just doctors [and] nurses, but also patient care assistants, among others. We have a field hospital in Clarendon that should be coming up on stream shortly, so it could be more because the numbers [COVID patients] are coming up fast."
With the outpatient department being retrofitted for COVID-19 cases, Bent indicated that services offered at the unit will be accommodated at the hall at the Mandeville Seventh Day Adventist Church.
The church hall, which is located just metres from the hospital, is now being retrofitted and should be completed by Wednesday, said Bent.
Bent said the relocation of the outpatient department is part of efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, particularly to persons with underlining illnesses, who visit these clinics.
"We recognised the crisis and so it wasn't a struggle for us. Immediately we agreed to partner with the hospital and give them the assistance they need," pastor at the Mandeville Seventh Day Adventist Church, Francis West, told The Gleaner.
On Friday, the Ministry of Health & Wellness advised that public hospitals are only seeing emergency cases as COVID-19 admissions increased and hospital resources were under pressure.
Just before that, the Mandeville Regional Hospital had cancelled and began to reschedule appointments at its outpatient clinics amid the COVID crunch and has since scaled down those services significantly.
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