Last month Minister of Health Hon. Vildo Marin signed off on a contract to upgrade the Matron Roberts and Cleopatra White Health Center in the hopes of attaining the much tossed about health reform. Well the work on the clinics has begun and it is visible well on schedule but as the adage goes progress brings problems and in this case it means that people who seek medical attention at the clinics do not know where to go for medical care. Thing is the clinics were moved to locations and while an education campaign to direct people to the new locations was put out there is still a problem of the message not getting across. The one institution caught in the middle is the KHMH and in particular it's Accident and Emergency Room that has to deal with patients that do not necessarily fit their clientele. Alfonso Noble reports.
Alfonso Noble Reporting,
Work in the renovation of the Matron Roberts and Cleopatra White Health Centers seem to be going on schedule. But even as the outlook for these policlinics is looking bright, for now there seems to be setbacks at least in the delivery of health care to those who use the clinics for medical attention. At the front line now is the KHMH's emergency room that has to be attending to non-emergency cases when it is not designed for it.
Dr. Fidel Cuellar, KHMH
“Right here we deal with anything that is trauma or accidents: any cuts, bruises, gunshots, stab wounds, and road traffic accidents. We deal with what we determine as emergencies or any situation that needs to be seen immediately and we also deal with urgencies; any situation that needs to be seen within the next few hours. A lot of the general public believes that because they are ill, they have some type of ailment, they have to be seen here at the emergency room which is not true; that is why we have our health centers and clinics. If the patient does not know how serious it is they can come here and we will tell them where they need to go to get attended to. But a lot of people believe that because they come here they need to be seen here. If we determine it is not an emergency or an urgency, no matter the time of day or night, we have the authority to refer the patient to the health center even though they may not be open at that time so they can go in the morning. Everybody seems to come to us and they don’t look for the health center. We don’t mind directing them where to go but the public needs to understand that we have a place to treat them and its not the emergency room. If they need to find out, come here and we will take a look at them and do the necessary referrals.”
Alfonso Noble,
You will determine if it is an emergency?
Dr. Fidel Cuellar,
“That’s correct. That is what our staff does, we determine if it is an emergency or not.”
And if its not they are referred to the health centers but where are they while the old ones are being torn down? Well outpatients for the Cleopatra White Center are being attended to here at the Old Nursing school compound and Director of the Central Medical Region Dr. Jose Lopez says that the clinic is up and accepting patients.
Dr. Jose Lopez, Director of the Central Medical Region
“We foresee that there will be a little hike in the attendance there because this is new that we just moved here and a lot of people probably don’t know eventhough this was on the television and in the newspapers and on the radio. But I think that will work out just fine in time besides you have to remember this is an emergency situation and we moved here for 12 weeks until the construction of these places is finished and we will have a much better Cleopatra White and Matron Roberts Health Centers. Here in the central region office compound we transferred the outpatient from Cleopatra White and so far we haven’t had too many glitches. It seems to be working fine. They can access care here this place is opened from 8 in the morning until 8 at night. The entrance is from St. Joseph Street and they are signs that will lead you directly to the clinic. At the original site where Cleopatra White is that is where we left and we still have there the maternal and child health program that is where the immunization program is where the mothers take their kids to get vaccinated. We also have the psychiatric clinic remaining there, the AIDS clinic is still there, and the chest.”
As for the patients of Matron Roberts health center they are being attended to at the Port Loyola Clinic located on Faber’s Road.
Expected completion of the Matron Roberts and Cleopatra White Policlinics are expected within the next 12 weeks.