The Karl Heusner Memorial, Belize's national referral hospital, made a major investment last year to fix their roof after an extended period of reduced services. In October, they re-opened at full capacity, and this morning, the hospital's staff was a celebratory mood once again, after they unveiled the newly refurbished Labour and Delivery Unit.
By the hospital's count, approximately 2,000 babies are born there annually, and in a very short while, all new mothers will have a higher level of comfort and patient care with this 140 thousand-dollar upgrade.
The press was invited to see what improvements were made, 7News was the hospital this morning for the unveiling ceremony. We spoke with the authorities about the investment, and we asked why their new unit is better equipped to handle emergencies that can happen during child birth. Here's what they had to say:
Michelle Hoare - CEO, KHMH
"The planning for the renovation and upgrade for this Labor and Delivery started almost 2 years ago. Again, it started with the technical team on the ground, identifying the challenges, approaching Management and the Ministry of Health. And from that time, the Minister of Health had committed to assisting in helping out. We actually was able to successfully complete the specs in terms of the floor plan, the layout, the renovations, about maybe 7 months ago, and we were looking for the funding to support the project, given what we had just recently gone through with the structural repairs that we had. The Minister of health was here at the time, and he committed a portion of it. So the total project costs just over $140,000, of which, 50% of that total was support through the Minister of Health."
"Of the total cost for the total project, a $140,00 roughly, about about 50% of that went to the upgrade of medical gases, which, actually, was done in three of the main areas of this Labour and Delivery area. The Labour room, which is just across the room from here, we've upgraded medical gases. So, there is a 3 bed capacity in that room, and in each of those beds, there is medical gas support."
"In both of the delivery rooms, this being one of the two delivery rooms, there is also the medical gas support, in this room, as you see right here on the wall, and it's on the other side as well. And in in our post-delivery room, there is the the capacity for 4 bed, and in all 4 beds, there is medical gas support."
"Women in labour clearly, they all need oxygen support, and medical gas, liquid oxygen being one of those medical gases, has been one of the key medical supply that we needed to support women in labour. Of course, you never know when a woman might hemorrhage out, and they may need additional intubation and oxygenation, and so, in every area where the women are attended, expectant mothers are attended, you need to have readily available these gases, to be able to support them."
Hon Pablo Marin - Minister of Health
"I have the give thanks to Doctora Goff, the Gynecologist. She was the first one who showed me that we needed a lot of improvements here. So, we did the first walkthrough with her, and we saw all the inconvenience that patients had before. So, when CEO came in, we spoke about it, and she did did the walkthrough also, and we realize that, you know what, this very essential. I have said it before, and I'll say it again. We need to repair our facilities. It is hard for me to start to do new ones in different locations, because to get the staff, it's hard for us at the moment. But, for us to renovate, and what you're seeing now is renovation, that is what we're gonna do."
All the improvements to this Unit was done in house by the Hospital's maintenance staff. They did not go seeking an outside contractor.
The Minister of Health says that in September or October, there will be renovation of the Belmopan Polyclinic, , through the Social Investment Fund. Marin said that medical facility is on the Ministry's list of priority upgrades, for its state of disrepair.
Email
Print