Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre has said that ‘boarders’ – patients who enter and stay, contribute to the the OKEU Hospital’s bed challenges.
“We had a discussion, and we were told that people are sitting on chairs, etc. So we need more bed space,” Pierre stated.
“But we also have a problem that there are boarders in the hospital. There are people who come here and they stay – they’re in a hotel,” he stated.
“What do we do with them? Put them in the streets?” Pierre asked.
“We have to find space for them. So, whereas the intention is to increase the bed space so people can’t be sitting on chairs which looks very bad, the visuals are bad. We want to put them on beds,” he noted.
However, the PM indicated that the hospital first had to address the ‘boarders’ issue.
Pierre spoke at a cheque presentation ceremony on Friday.
The $11 million is from the Government for the Millennium Heights Medical Complex (MHMC).
The Complex comprises the OKEU Hospital, the National Mental Wellness Centre, the Turning Point Drug & Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre, and the Secondary Care Hospital.
The PM disclosed a backlog of $16 million in OKEU Hospital payables to suppliers dating back several years, which had become his administration’s responsibility.
He said that the Government obtained $11 million from the Citizenship By Investment Programme (CIP), which was insufficient.
Nevertheless, Pierre said due to ‘small surpluses’ in the country’s finances, the Government obtained another $5 million to clear the OKEU Hospital’s $16 million backlog.
He revealed that people are owed for services rendered before the COVID-19 pandemic, including $2 million owed to the French for healthcare.
Pierre said he mandated an audit of the Health Ministry’s payables in this regard.
“We want the Ministry of Health to be able to use their allocation to do what they have to do and secondly, we want to be able to give some sort of relief to the local suppliers of medical services to the Hospital,” he told the cheque handing over ceremony.
I dont understand this article. Boarders are the problem? Theyre in a hotel? So you plan to accomodate them with more beds? Perhaps a nursing home may help?
What happened to the money from the HEALTH and security levy?
Lord, please … help us 🙏 🙏 🙏
This is the most confusing crap that I have read in a while. I spoke to my relative overseas who is a veteran in the medical services and she too was bamboozled. After I read the article to her, we were both unsure whether the rooms were actually rented. Generally, doctor’s orders are required for discharging a patient. A patient can voluntary quit care without doctor’s orders. When that happens, an Against Medical Advice (AMA) is drawn against the patient.
Are the “boarders” people who were discharged and continue to stay at the hospital? Are they non patients who commandeered beds? Are they patients who feign more serious ailments? Unless “boarder” is simply a wrong word choice.
This is a conundrum.
I can not believe that you are calling patients ‘boarders’ they are in hospital for a reason and they have not been discharged for a reason. Honestly this PM is getting worse.
What are you going to do, get doctors/nurses to kick them out……… disgusting.
How can a government explain the construction of a new hospital with less beds than the old one that was grossly overcrowded?
Ok. Great that the money was given. .. and an audit to be done.
I hope there is oversight of this money to ensure it is used for its intended purposes.
My only question is….. What is being done to ensure that this does not occur in the coming future? That we are not back at this same point in a few years.
We need to Step aside from the politics and think country and not party. OKEU has so much potential. Please don’t let it become another VH.
@Poule Foo your relative is correct every intervention/decision at least where I reside requires a doctors order. Anything contrary is literally AMA – what in the world is going on in St. Lucia. To be honest I was embarrassed reading this article ??????
Where are the physicians orders for those who are considered boarders???????
This is difficult to process, what really is a so called ‘boarder”, one is supposed to be on a hospital bed as an admitted patient, if the person has been discharged then they should no longer be there, I can only assume then that a ‘boarder” is someone who has been discharged but refuses to leave the hospital. The question is, what is the best course of action in such a situation. As the PM said, you can’t put them out on the street, but in the admittance form, there is a ‘next of kin, person to call’ section, that can be explored, but just looking at it from the outside, it’s a perplexing situation to deal with. However it is done, a way must be found to ensure all discharged patients leave the hospital.
Oh Really August 23, 2024 At 6:41 pm
What happened to the money from the HEALTH and security levy?
Been wondering that myself. Taxation without representation.
I have seen this happen in Canada. Homeless people come into the hospitals, complain about some ailment in order to get a place to sleep and food. They are known to do this nightly. There is no particular medical emergency. The hospital staff are aware of the problem. The homeless person is admitted, put on a gurney and NOT a hospital bed, and discharged the next day.
It is not unique to St. Lucia. Hospital staff/ security must be firm with these individuals or they risk exacerbating the problem.
There remains the very complex issue of addressing homelessness, the PM is correct. Howvever one cannot expect to solve all socal issues in just one term in office. Everything takes time.
@Frienly, I’ve seen this as well. NPR did a report last year about people with disabilities that their family brought them to the hospital and left them. The PM did not invent ER Boarders. These are individuals who remain in emergency departments (EDs) while waiting for hospital beds to become available.
Where I live in the US we have a major problem with this. We even had nurses go on strike about a yea or two ago due to this: https://www.wsna.org/news/2021/washington-hospitals-on-the-brink-of-unprecedented-crisis
So-called “boarders” may be people who no longer need acute hospital care, and thus should be discharged, but need sub-acute or nursing home care that is unavailable. Also, they might not need hospital care but cannot go home because of stairs and/or other inaccessible circumstances at home. So they remain in the hospital even though they no longer need inpatient hospital care. In other words, the problem is a social issue, and because of a lack of appropriate facilities, the person continues to utilize scarce acute hospital resources when those are no longer needed.
@ Anonymous 5:22 pm.
Thanks for your response, which is quite possible for a resource starved institution. Most people are accustomed to persons who are well going home, or being sent to some facility. The present situation is distressing. The place is in real bad shape.
Sometimes the journalists are to be blamed for not asking the PM to clarify his “brain farts”. Instead of publishing the crap word for word.
“Boarders” as they were called, are mostly older homeless persons who have been discharged but have no where to go. They stay at the hospital for shelter, care and food. There are also Boarders who are persons who may have been discharged but don’t have persons to assist with, or the ability to afford post surgical living assistance, therefore they would stay at the hospital for an additional month etc.
Nurses in the time of VH would empathize with such individuals allowing them to stay “a little” longer which becomes a problem later on.
So many questions? Why is new hospital commissioned with many fewer beds per capita than the old one and considering that population is increasing….what kinda Healthcare planning is that? What is this health and security TAX for…yes it’s a tax and not a levy? Why can’t the PM understand that the dire situation is much more than just beds, I have been in that place for 3 major visits( sick family) over the past two years and the AE dept needs overhauling…staff issues like not cleaning patients, not feeding them on time, no updates from staff on patient progress, unhygienic conditions that will kill patients faster (think that’s what killed my dad, not the primary ailment which he had)! The PM I think means well but does not understand the issue at hand based on this article. Do better!