[UPDATED] Work begins at run-down Pt Fortin Extended Care Centre

The Point Fortin Extended Care Centre in Warden Road, Point Fortin. -
The Point Fortin Extended Care Centre in Warden Road, Point Fortin. -

AFTER Newsday's reports on the dilapidated condition of the , restoration work is under way.

In addition, the CEO of the South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA), Dr Brian Armour, is expected to visit.

Last week, staff complained to Newsday about several issues at the centre, at Warden Road, Point Fortin, which houses psychiatric patients and the socially displaced.

They said there are rats and snakes there very often, especially as the grass is not regularly cut.

In addition, there is a leaking roof and broken windows, so "staff have to constantly be moving patients' beds whenever rain falls," one worker said.

Other problems include cracking walls, dysfunctional electric outlets, no hot water for patients to shower and poor medication storage systems.

They also had no sink outside the building for visitors to wash their hands before entering.

When Newsday contacted the SWRHA last Thursday, an official said the authority had no comment.

Point Fortin MP Kennedy Richards Jr told Newsday the issues were "unacceptable" and that "SWRHA has to do better." He said he was willing to work with the SWRHA and the private sector to rectify the issues.

Staff told Newsday that two days after the initial report, a sink was installed outside, a task force visited and an electrician would soon visit to check the outlets.

On Wednesday, one staff member said, "The grass was cut, (a) fresh coat of paint is being applied to the building...the old mattresses and other old stuff is being cleaned up and taken away."

In addition, they said Armour will visit the centre on Thursday afternoon.

"So we're waiting till tomorrow to hear officially what's happening with us," the worker said.

Armour was at the Health Ministry's virtual press conference on Wednesday morning.

Newsday asked for his comments on the issue and he referred to a press release issued on Monday.

It said since 2020, its plan was to refurbish the old hospital once the new one was commissioned.

But it also said, "Due to the emergency covid(19) situation, the refurbishment of the old hospital did occur but was expedited to house covid19 patients.

"This has temporarily halted SWRHA ('s ability) to fully attend to the Extended Care Centre by way of our prior plan, together with the priority given to realignment of all hospital services, as previously indicated in our media releases and statements."

Staff at the Extended Care Centre told Newsday they had not been not told about any of these plans.

At the press conference, Armour said, "In essence, it has always been part of a larger infrastructural updgrade that South West has undertaken even during (the) covid19 (pandemic)."

He said had the old hospital not become a step-down facility, staff and patients from the Extended Care Centre would temporarily have been transfered there.

"That facility houses persons that are elderly as well as persons with underlying mental health issues, so therefore care and attention has to be taken if you're relocating any service in order to effect repairs. So that was the plan.

"We have listened to the public and the patients and the staff. So we are still looking at the entire situation and certainly, we would advise the staff as to what plans we would have in the near future to treat with some minor issues. But the facility is planned for major upgrade works."

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"[UPDATED] Work begins at run-down Pt Fortin Extended Care Centre"

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