Private maternity ward at QEH gets make-over

by Anesta Henry

Ocean Hotels Group has renovated Room 6 of the Private Maternity Ward at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH).

Speaking during an official handing over ceremony at the Sea Breeze Beach House, Maxwell Coast Road, Christ Church, on Wednesday, Group General Manager Patricia Affonso-Dass told members of the media the project was conceptualised
by the management of Sea Breeze, who wanted to make the birthing experience more comfortable for expectant mothers, including some of their own employees.

She said the new Ocean Hotels Suite will be available to all Ocean Hotels female staff and the partners of male staff, at no cost. The newly renovated suite will also be available to private maternity patients of the QEH.

The suite on Ward B1 has newly outfitted floors, bathrooms, cupboards, fans, sink, showers and curtains, newly painted and decorated walls, and new kitchen equipment.

Assistant General Manager of Sea Breeze Beach House, Allison Price, thanked the sponsors for their contributions and noted that the mothers-to-be and new mothers would be sure to feel the hospitality for which Ocean Hotels is known.

Speaking during the ceremony, Minister of Health and Wellness Lt Col Jeffrey Bostic thanked the Group for partnering with management of the QEH to work on the renovations, which he said is part of a bigger project.

He reiterated that Government has a big agenda for the transformation of health services, which included the QEH and all other health care institutions on the island.

“A part of that transformation also includes human resources, as we have sought to provide additional resources to all of our institutions to be able to deliver the health care services . . . . and, more importantly, embarking on a programme of training that would bring members of staff up to even higher levels of operations, based on the developments within the areas of specialty. “But this is not something that the Government can do on its own. The Government depends, to a significant extent, on private-public partnerships such as this one and on philanthropy. Without that, we do not have the resources to do everything that is required.

“We also depend on private sector health care institutions in this country and our effort at this point is to harmonise what is being done in Barbados, whether public or private, and also include the civil society organisations to make Barbados not only a healthcare destination of excellence but also excellence in terms of medical education.

“So this is why what you have done at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, especially at this time when we do not have all the resources that are required due to the impact of the COVID pandemic, is absolutely appreciated by all of us. . .,” Bostic told the Ocean Hotels Group representatives.

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb