A COVID-19 Wing at the Western Regional Hospital
The Western Regional Hospital has been preparing for the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Three extra units have been added to accommodate a total of nineteen beds for patients of the coronavirus. A walk-through of the new COVID wing shows the improvements to the facility, which starts with a flu clinic. But still, there is a shortage of human resources should the virus spread and hospitalization becomes necessary. Here is News Five’s Duane Moody with a report.
Duane Moody, Reporting
To date, there are some five persons who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus for the Belmopan area in this wave of the pandemic. Since the virus was detected in Belize back in March, the management of the Western Regional Hospital has been working toward better surveillance and to ensure that structurally the facility is ready to accommodate persons who may be suspect cases of the deadly disease. On the compound, a flu clinic retrofitted with a quarantine area, operating theatres and I.C.U. area – all separate from the established facilities – has been set up.
Javier Zuniga
Dr. Javier Zuniga, Regional Health Manager, Western Health Region
“For the past six months we have done some restructuring of part of the compound here at western regional hospital that is designated for COVID-19 surveillance and case management as well for patients who are positive. What we have done here is have a COVID-19 wing that has a flu clinic. That flu clinic is basically to screen all patients that come to the hospital with respiratory conditions. In the interim that we have the test being done, we will host these patients in a transit house where we have three rooms for patients until we get a result. After we get a result, if it is positive, then these patients are moved to the COVID-19 wards. We have two wards; one with a capacity for eight beds—six adults and two children—and we have another wing that was once the old vaccine room. We remodelled the building to fit a COVID-19 ward, but in addition to this, we also made an operating data, a labour and delivery room; a ward that can hold eight patients, a recovery room for two patients. We also have a neonatal area that can hold four beds and we also have an area for ICU care which can hold five beds.”
It is essentially a mini hospital primarily for COVID-19 purposes. One of the structures in place includes an entry triage on the compound. Here, persons are processed before they are directed to the area of service. As it relates to suspect COVID-19 cases, there should be no hold up and those persons are sent immediately to the flu clinic.
Dana Lawrence
Dr. Dana Lawrence, Supervisor, Emergency and Outpatient, Western Regional Hospital
“It is to separate patients as quickly as possible and send them to the designated portions of the hospital to decrease contamination and them contacting different things at the hospital. So when the patient comes in, somebody speaks with them, we find out where they are going—if it is a pregnant mother or an emergency, they go straight to emergency. We don’t keep them. If it is for respiratory clinic at the back, they don’t even stay here ten, thirty seconds; we find out what is wrong and they go immediately to the respiratory area. The people that we keep out here for a short while are the people who are going just to outpatient, who we have to do a little bit more monitoring to make sure that that’s where they belong because you have some people who come in confused and after speaking for them like three minutes, you realise that you said you don’t have cough and cold, but you do and we have to make sure that people are going to the correct area.”
On Tuesday, an elderly COVID-positive patient from Hope Creek, a nurse, was transferred from the facility to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. Currently, there are three symptomatic persons awaiting their results at the facility. Regional Health Manager, Doctor Javier Zuniga says that the place is properly equipped, but human resources are already stretched thin and they are in need of that kind of support.
Dr. Javier Zuniga
“We don’t have the staff; we cannot staff this at the moment with our staff because we are already stretched thin with staffing. So if we do open up these areas, we will have to bring staff from other areas to fill the gaps in the COVID-19 area. We already opened; we are finalising the structure at the moment in terms of the equipment and the medical resources that are needed within the facility. But we already have the A.P.U. section which has the eight beds. It has already been operating since the COVID-19 pandemic started.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
