The Belmopan Polyclinic is Officially Inaugurated
Today, the Ministry of Health and Wellness in partnership with the Social Investment Fund officially launched the Belmopan polyclinic at the Western Regional Hospital Compound. The facility, which has a price tag of approximately one point four million dollars, will provide primary care services to residents in the capital and surrounding villages. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.
Duane Moody, Reporting
This morning, ribbon was cut at an inauguration ceremony for the Belmopan Polyclinic. For some time now, the capital has been clamouring for a facility like this to provide primary healthcare services to residents, an ease the burden on the western regional hospital.
Kevin Bernard
Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health & Wellness
“In order for us to ensure that we can provide primary care for our people, these are the types of infrastructure development and investment that has to take place across the country. And this is testament to the commitment that we have made that we need to ensure that every citizen has equal access to healthcare. I was talking just a while ago to Doctor Azueta who serves in one of the regions, Valley of Peace community area, has expressed to us that this will definitely bring great improvement to the Western Regional Hospital and that this polyclinic will reduce some of the strain that exist at the western regional.”
The facility is an investment of one point four million dollars from the Caribbean Development Bank and implemented through the Social Investment Fund.
Narda Garcia
Narda Garcia, Board Chair, Social Investment Fund
“This structure that we are now officially inaugurating was built and furnish with just under one point four million dollars. It has a n area for outpatient services and a designated area for mental health, dental health and general practice. It also houses a spacious waiting area, a special area for maternal and healthcare, as well as observations room, triage and a pharmacy. Our engineers at SIF, along with the technical staff of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, ensured that the design of this polyclinic is built of disaster resilient infrastructure so that it can withstand natural disasters like hurricanes.”
Belmopan area representative Oscar Mira was also in attendance and lauds his government for the investment in the people of Belmopan and surrounding villages.
Oscar Mira
Oscar Mira, Area Representative, Belmopan
“As you heard, the facility here at the Belmopan hospital opened in 1970, quite a long time ago, and this is one step further in providing adequate services to the people of Belmopan, the surrounding communities, but also the surrounding villages of Belmopan. So I think it came at a very good time for us to inaugurate this polyclinic. There’s lot more work to do. We acknowledge that there is a lot to do in the health sector, but this is one step forward.”
And Health Minister Kevin Bernard says that there are plans to install a tertiary healthcare institution in Belmopan.
Kevin Bernard
“The commitment of the government is to ensure that a brand new tertiary hospital is built in Belmopan City and that is already in the pipeline. We are almost at the point where we can say we’ve closed that deal and we should be able to see construction started as early as next year. We have to plan for climate resiliency. Climate change is upon us and Belmopan is the only identified area that we feel is the best location to build another tertiary hospital for the country. So we are looking at how we can improve.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
