Millennium Heights Medical Complex hosted Honourable Philip Pierre and a small delegation for a special visit on Friday December 3, 2021. The delegation toured the facility to learn about the progress of the ongoing transition, the new policies and procedures which are being instituted, plans for improvements to customer service and the shortcomings which are still being addressed by MHMC during its transition.
The prime minister’s team included Honourable Moses Jn Baptiste – Minister for Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs and Acting Permanent Secretary, Ms. Jenny Daniel; Honourable Dr. Virginia Albert-Poyotte – Minister for Public Service, Home Affairs, Labour and Gender Affairs and Permanent Secretary, Mr. Darrel Montrope; Honourable Joachim Henry – Minister for Equity, Social Justice and Empowerment; Mr. Michael Willis – Advisor to the Prime Minister, and Ms. Maundy Lewis – Press Secretary to the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Pierre, his team, and a group from MHMC headed by CEO Siobhan James-Alexander, settled in the National Mental Wellness Centre (NMWC) conference room for a briefing and update. There, discussions centred around overall improvement to the complex’s services, the continued recreation of its image, finances and budget, expanding the availability of specialised equipment and services, ongoing training of staff and completing MHMC’s transition to a statutory body. Prime Minister Pierre thanked the management and staff of MHMC for their contributions especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. He emphasised his administration’s approach of allowing the medical institution to conduct its responsibilities and make recommendations to the government.
James-Alexander said that she is pleased with the government’s attention to MHMC’s challenges, and she is looking forward to how plans for improvement come to fruition in 2022. She said, “As the largest medical facility on the island, MHMC is tasked with serving the majority of the population. It is therefore extremely important that we address with urgency the concerns about quality of service and healthcare which we provide to our patients. It is equally important for us to focus on our staff and ensure that we are creating an enabling environment for them to operate optimally. We must ensure that at the centre of everything we do that our services are available and accessible to everyone. The team is grateful for the support rendered to us by Prime Minister Pierre and his team and we look forward to the collaborative effort to accomplish our objectives.”
The contingent toured the facility stopping at some key departments starting with the Acute Male Unit of NMWC noting some of the challenges and constraints under which it is operated. Honourables Albert-Poyotte and Henry paid special attention to the discourse considering some of the concerns raised. The delegation continued to the Owen King EU Hospital with a visit to the Obstetrics & Gynaecology Department, Accident & Emergency Department, and the Ezra Long Laboratory. They were briefed about the obstacles causing long waiting times for boarding of patients due to challenges with the number of beds at the facility and thus availability on the units and the process for testing for COVID-19. In November, MHMC introduced changes to Outpatient Clinic operations as well as in-patient coordinators in the Accident & Emergency Department for admitted patients to monitor their experience and feedback. MHMC is also continuously performing customer service training with employees. Management at the complex is working on several administrative and technology changes to begin executing in 2022.
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