St Joseph clinic to reopen after a year shuttered

St Joseph residents will soon be able to again access healthcare services at the Horse Hill Outpatients Clinic when a major $1.2 million renovation is completed at month-end, the area MP said Monday.

Attorney General and St Joseph MP Dale Marshall told journalists that the clinic which has been out of commission since March 2020 should reopen early next month.

He said: “The construction work is the hardest thing to get done. The staff and so on that used to be there with the equipment will just get put back in, but the clinic is going to be finished by the end of this financial year.

“But the Ministry of Health desperately needs to have these outpatient clinics available to treat not just the regular cases but also if there is a potential case of COVID.

“So if they have to do contact tracing then it becomes more manageable.”

Marshall said following years of poor maintenance and general neglect, the recent closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic presented an opportunity for the facility to be refurbished.

“What has happened though is because of the new protocols following our health care facilities, the Horse Hill Outpatient Clinic simply could not be revived because it was so small there was no opportunity for physical distancing at all.

“So this has given us a great opportunity because what is going to be the end product of this refurbishment and renovation will be an outpatient clinic that is significantly bigger than what is there now. It wouldn’t quite double the size but it would almost double the size.”

The refurbished clinic has been expanded to include additional facilities for staff and patients, and consideration has been taken to ensure space for adequate social distancing in the current COVID-19 environment. A gazebo with built-in seating accommodation for waiting patients is also part of the project.

The MP said: “It will also see additional doctors’ offices. There was a need to spruce it up is without a doubt. The wiring was loose, tiles were broken, it really has been a situation that needed attention. Over the last twelve months, St Joseph residents have had to go to multiple clinics, and even now when we should be vaccinating our residents at our clinic, we have to be doing it at the neighbouring school and so on.

“So it’s a work that is long overdue, but I am really honoured that I have been a part of that process. In a way, I am pleased too because having a refurbished clinic in Horse Hill and a new community facility in Bathsheba, the residents in my community can once again hold their head up high and not feel as though they are the stepchild. It has really been difficult as a Member of Parliament for St Joseph. Our bus service was atrocious, our roads were atrocious, we had all of these challenges.”

The outpatient clinic at Belleplaine, St Joseph is also being currently refurbished.

(AH)