The Lions Caribbean Eye Care Centre, which is being refurbished at a cost of $13 million, is expected to have all the work completed by March 2013, with the ophthalmology section fully operational by the end of January and the cardiovascular services by the end of March.
Word of this came yesterday from Minister of Health, Donville Inniss, moments before he, accompanied by officials of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the Lions Club of Barbados and the Delegation of the European Union to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, took a tour of the facility.
Inniss revealed that once operational, Barbadians will no longer have to venture off the island to access eye care services, adding that the country is poised to become the referral centre of choice in the Caribbean.
“Today we can boast of having…all or nearly all the sub-specialties in ophthalmology available right here in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and that is something we have kept very quiet about so far. But I don’t think there is any other hospital in the Caribbean that can say that they have all the sub-specialties of ophthalmology available in it,” he said.Referring to the cardiac suite – which has been constructed on the first floor of the building through a grant of $5 million from the European Development Fund – Minister Inniss, while thanking the European Union for their assistance, said that Barbadians can look forward to having a state-of-the-art facility for cardiac services. With that in mind, he noted that they are cognisant of the need to invest more in the training of nurses in this area of medicine as well as other areas, and he said this will be pursued.
“The Government of Barbados recognises the challenges we have both for ophthalmology and cardiovascular services and we are committed to doing something about it… I believe this is a reflection of the commitment the Government has to improving health care in Barbados. I don’t think there is another sector that is flogged as much as this sector is, but I believe that as you look around here, you recognise the commitment we have here at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in terms of highly skilled doctors, nurses and support staff, a strong management team. And it is you who have been driving the process, your shoulders have been broad, you have been taking the licks, but I think Barbadians have finally realised that we have a good facility that is deserving of utmost respect,” he said.
That the refurbishment project was divided into two main sections – the refurbishment of the air conditioning system at a cost of $6.5 million, and the construction of a cardiac suite at a cost of $5 million under phase one; and phase two will see an additional $1.5 million being spent on the air conditioning in the Accident and Emergency Department.
