New Birthing Facilty At Hospital - Anguillian

[Anguillan newsboy]

The womenfolk in Anguilla now have a new facility for giving birth at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. Long in coming over the years, it is an addition to the maternity wing providing, in one area, bedding space and equipment to enable deliveries by C-section and, in another part of the building, two well-equipped maternity suites for normal deliveries.



The C-Section Room This roomy annex opens up to the existing maternity ward where the mothers will then spend some time recuperating before their discharge.
The welcome addition to the maternity ward has been part of an effort by Government, and later the Health Authority, to improve the hospital and its fruition is due to a large extent by an early financial contribution by the National Bank of Anguilla.

The opening ceremony on June 20 was attended by Government, medical and health officials and media representatives who were welcomed by Chief Executive Officer with the Health Authority of Anguilla, Darlene Baptiste.
Clavis Carter-Gumbs, Chief Operations Officer with the Health Authority, set the tone for the opening ceremony. “Unrelenting changes in the health-care environment are increasing the demand for services and therefore we have to expand our infrastructure to those services,” she told the gathering of Government, medical and health officials and media representatives.


One of the Maternity Suites “Our goal is to maintain and enhance the health of the public by improving our facilities. Unfortunately, our dreams do not become a reality as quickly as we want despite our best endeavours. This [addition] to the maternal wing which we are commissioning, experienced its full share of drawbacks, and infrastructural changes we had to make in our quest to provide a unit which will meet all our needs. We have waited long for this opening but I can ***ure you that by ensuring that every requirement was met, we can now boast a unit fully provided with state-of-the-art equipment and technology.”

Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Health Authority, Dr. Franklin Lloyd, said the new unit was a significant upgrade of the facilities for labour, delivery and post-natal care. “As is the case in all modern hospitals, the patient in labour will be monitored and delivered in the same bed in a private room which is equipped with all the facilities required for a normal delivery,” he explained. “Formerly, there was one delivery room and now there are two. After delivery, the mother is transferred to the adjacent post-delivery ward for continuing care.”


Cutting of ribbon Dr Lloyd went on: “In the event of complications requiring surgery, the fully-equipped maternity operating theatre is conveniently located jut across the corridor. This is equipped with its own anaesthetic machine and other necessary facilities. If there are complications not requiring immediate surgery, for example, pre-eclampsia, the patient can be isolated in a quiet room thus creating the best environment in which such a complication should be treated…

“Now that the unit is opened, the rooms formerly occupied by the maternity services are now available for other uses. The area is being converted into a post-operative room and stabilisation unit for acutely critical patients. The equipment required for this service is already here and some of it has been used with great success as the need has arisen.”

Dr. Lloyd was grateful to the National Bank of Anguilla for its outstanding contribution to the hospital.

Minister of Health, Evans Rogers, said the new facility was another indication that the Health Authority was going into the right direction with the ***istance of the private sector not only to have the physical capabilities but also the professional services as well. “We are as strong as our weakest link,” he told the Medical and Health personnel. “The patient must come first and we must have a commitment to what we are doing. The good you do will never be remembered. One unfortunate incident will never be forgotten. It is incumbent on us not to be in this profession to get accolades but to serve our patients professionally.” He was grateful to all for their work, taking on added responsibilities, and hoped that adequate staff would be in place to carry out the varied services at the hospital.

NBA’s Chief Corporate Officer, Selwyn Horsford, said National Bank had always been in the forefront of making contributions to the island in the areas of education, health and sports and pledged its continuing ***istance. “I know there must be other needs at the hospital, not only in the area of maternity but in dialysis and other illness, for which Government or the Health Authority can always approach the bank for ***istance.” He stated. “I can guarantee that whenever that happens, National Bank will step forward and do its best to ***ist.”

The addition to the maternity wing was blessed by Pastor Danny Philip of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

The Vote of Thanks was delivered by Director of Nursing Services, Cherrille Franklin, who reflected on the early deliveries of children at private homes and the development of the maternity services over the years to handle births at the hospital. She was delighted with the commissioning of the new facilities at the Princess Alexandra Hospital and joined in thanking the National Bank for its support. She emphasised the need for team work to ensure the delivery of excellent health-care services and wished Sister Alecia Harewood and her staff much success in providing the best possible maternity care at the hospital.