St. Lucy District Hospital to get much needed repairs

Noting that the St. Lucy District Hospital “is in poor shape”, Francine Watson, Principal Nursing Officer at that institution says she is grateful for the financial assistance Mount Gay Distillery recently made towards the health care facility and the kind assistance to be offered by staff, who will paint the hospital and help with the repair and electrical work to be carried out there.

Her comments came as Executive Director of Mount Gay, Raphael Grisoni, presented a cheque for $20 000 to the Barbados government on Saturday, during Mount Gay’s Open Day Tour and Tree Planting Exercise, at the Distillery in St. Lucy. Accepting the donation was Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Kerrie Symmonds; Minister in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Maintenance Peter Phillips; Minister of Information, Broadcasting and Public Affairs, Senator Lucille Moe; and Coordinator of We Gatherin’ 2020, Selma Green.

Speaking with The Barbados Advocate following the event, Watson noted that it was Minister Phillips who first approached her about the challenges the hospital was experiencing and who got the ball rolling in terms of signalling the need for assistance, in order for business persons to come on board and assist.

“I remember last year when Minister Phillips came to the hospital and he wanted to know our challenges and I told him and he said, ‘Ms. Watson, I am going to get back to you. I am going to contact some business people in St. Lucy and I am going to get things sorted out,’” she recounted.

“So I am feeling good that they made a sizeable donation and that they have decided to come and allow the staff to do some work at the hospital, because the hospital is in poor shape. And I know that at the end of it, that we will see a lot of improvement,” the principal nursing officer added.

Pointing out the areas of focus at the St. Lucy District Hospital, she noted: “The outside of the hospital needs painting and the inside too. We also have panelling and such like that needs to be repaired. The interior of the ward needs painting also.

“We have a fence that is down. We don’t even have gates. There are no gates at the hospital, so the money and assistance will go to help the hospital in a lot of ways,” Watson said.
(RSM)

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