Isolation centre gets thumbs up from foreign health care worker who received treatment

Barbados’ COVID-19 isolation centre at Harrison’s Point, St Lucy has received an “A” grade from a recovered patient who has heaped praises on the workers there for their compassion and professionalism.

In a letter obtained by Barbados TODAY, the patient, a health care worker from abroad, said: “This facility is well on its way to becoming world-class, to be a beacon to the world. There is opportunity here for research and great development in the midst of this crisis.”

Head of Isolation Facilities Dr Corey Forde said the accolade highlights the fact that workers at the facility “have worked tremendous hours, have worked under situations where things were difficult, where we did not know much about the Coronavirus of this nature, and really highlights for me the fact that many of these health care workers have stood up at a time of need in the country”.

According to the letter writer who stayed at the facility earlier this month, the workers made the situation far much easier for patients though they were in a new environment.

“I want to say, without you working hard each day caring compassionately, the facility is nothing. Thank you for willingly coming to this remote location daily with a smile and a genuine heart to care for persons who are far away from home with nothing and no one else to rely on but you,” the letter added.

Dr Forde noted that health care workers go far beyond doctors and nurses, saying the team at Harrison’s Point worked well together to ensure the country remains safe.

“It is an all-on team effort and I also want to take a special opportunity to thank all staff, especially the kitchen staff which are often forgotten. I also want to take this opportunity here to give a significant thanks to the environmental cleaning staff at the facility. The environmental staff at the facility remain, to my mind, one of the important groups working at the facility. They make sure that areas are cleaned appropriately, that there is no movement of this bug or any other bug in the facility and they really protect us as workers in the facility,” he said.

“I think what this particular letter also points out is that at Harrison’s Point, we operate as a family. The whole idea of doctors, nurses, environmental services, housekeepers, orderlies, procurement, pharmacy, kitchen staff, laundry staff becomes a null and void issue. We are a team.”

Currently, 120 persons are employed at the facility which was converted from an abandoned ruin to a state-of-the-art 220-bed facility for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Dr Forde disclosed it was not the first letter of commendation the facility has received, even as he acknowledged there have also been complaints about the facility.

“We at Harrison’s Point have tried our best to ensure that even if it is a case where a visitor comes to this island and comes to the facility, that we keep them as comfortable as possible during that particularly difficult time. We understand that people that may have come on holiday would have spent extraordinary amounts of money, on occasions, to come here. But we also think that even though they become ill and they find themselves in a difficult situation, and even though they find themselves in a strange environment and one that they had not planned on being in, that we provide the best of care,” the isolation facilities manager said.

Dr Forde also praised corporate Barbados for helping the facility improve patient care and he appealed for additional support to do likewise for workers.
(sandydeane@barbadostoday.bb)