$18M infirmary, outpatient clinic built at Palms Geriatric Home

In an effort to improve the services provided to residents of the Palms Geriatric Home and by reducing referrals of these patients to the Georgetown Public Hospital, the facility has now been furnished with an $18M infirmary and outpatient clinic, along with equipment and furnishing.
The official commission of this new facility took place on Monday with Social Protection Minister Amna Ally declaring that the project is part of the Government’s efforts to ensure that the country’s seniors receive the best possible care whilst at the public institution.

“We cannot bypass our elderly, and every day we look at the improvement of the services that we can provide for our elderly at the Palms and today, this is a manifestation to show that we really do care,” she said while acknowledging that there was a dire need for this to be included in the services provided.
The Minister urged warned staffers against the mistreatment of the residents of the facility. “One day we are going to get old and we would not like when we get old to be mistreated and so, like our elders we would also like to ensure that we are given the best treatment,” she also added.
It was also explained by Director of Social Services, Wentworth Tanner that the ward will cater specifically for those persons with communicable diseases. This is to ensure that they are quarantined.
“We took a lot of things into consideration here, in the infectious ward there are special bath rails, special bath stools, to ensure that the best possible care can be provided here”
“Many times there are cases when persons come back from the hospital, they are not yet at a place where we feel comfortable taking them back to the general ward, so we can bring them here for observation and complete their recovery before we send them to the ward and they’re also cases that aren’t serious enough to send them to the Georgetown hospital so we can deal with it in-house so we are going to bring those people down here for observation and continued care,” Tanner continued.
Some of the most common infections there are lung related. There are also cases of diabetes and other non-communicable diseases which comes with age. He said prior to the establishment of the facilities, there is an in-house doctor who visits the ward at least once per week.
The infirmary is now equipped with an infectious ward, a doctor’s office and an observation ward with six beds. The outpatient clinic has a waiting area, a doctor’s office, and a dispensary.
The project, which was conceptualised in 2016, will see a reduction in the number of referrals to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
There will be two medical doctors on call 24 hours per every day, along with three nurses per shift, to attend to those persons with communicable diseases, thereby improving ward visits.
The facility houses approximately 200 residents.