Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Georgetown Public Hospital, Brigadier (Ret’d) George Lewis says that more persons are growing confident in the hospital’s abilities to serve the public, but the Corporation continues to grapple with a number of challenges, including the fact that families leave their elderly relatives there for a long period of time.
He told a news conference Tuesday that one of the main challenges at the hospital is the fact that many persons show little to no care for their elderly relatives.
“Another challenge is where patients are being discharged and relatives and loved ones are not coming quickly enough to take them home. It means a bed is occupied when another patient can use that bed,” the CEO explained.
He made it clear that the Georgetown Hospital is a medical facility and not a Geriatric Home.
The CEO is calling on the public be more caring for their elderly relatives and to assist the hospital since the Corporation cannot evict the patient, in accordance with set policies.
Elderly persons are often abandoned by their relatives after they have received medical attention at the hospital.
Meanwhile, according to Brigadier Lewis, there has been an increase in persons seeking help at the public health institution.
He believes that this is due to the fact that persons are becoming more health conscious, and do not wait for an illness to get severe before they seek medical attention.
But then there is the issue of space.
“One of our main challenges is the hospital hasn’t gotten bigger, so if you have more persons demanding the services then we would end up in problems with space, space at the A&E dept., and within our wards.”
Brigadier Lewis also asked persons to only use the A&E department when there is an actual emergency, noting that there are many cases that can be dealt with at the medical outpatient department.
“For the person who has a common cold that is not the place to be. The place to go is the medical outpatient department which happens to open until 8pm each day except for Sunday,” Lewis explained.
