Health Minister Moses Jn Baptiste has acknowledged what he indicated were the legitimate concerns of St. Jude Hospital (SJH) staff over their working conditions.
Jn Baptiste spoke on the margins of a sitting of the House of Assembly on Tuesday.
September 9 marked the 15th anniversary of the catastrophic fire that destroyed St. Jude Hospital, which has since been operating out of the George Odlum Stadium.
This ‘temporary arrangement’ has been criticized by staff as inadequate for many years, with ongoing construction and refurbishment adding to their concerns.
“As a government, we continue to say to the staff at the hospital that they are not working in ideal conditions. The stadium was not constructed to house a hospital,” Saint Lucia’s Health Minister stated.
“Our prime minister had said that our government continue to commiserate with the staff and the patients, and we continue to say that these conditions are not right and that is why we are working assiduously to ensure the staff and the patients are moved to the Augier site as soon as possible,” said Jn Baptiste.
On Monday, in a statement to mark the 15th anniversary of the SJH fire, the Minister announced that a contract signing for the final phase of the SJH reconstruction project would occur this week.
He also promised delivery “in the shortest possible time.”
However, one SJH staff member expressed frustration over the lack of clear communication regarding the timeline for a new facility.
“They give us no updates here at the hospital… I think you can see that the facility is in a mess, deteriorating. They gave us notice of renovations, which means if you are renovating, we are not going to move from here anytime soon, because if they were moving soon they would not be doing any work on here – the stadium,” the staff member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told St. Lucia Times.
Nevertheless, the Government anticipates that his week’s contract signing will mark a significant step towards resolving the long-standing issues at St. Jude Hospital and improving conditions for staff and patients.
