Built at the heart of the Placencia Peninsula, now lies its very first Placencia Polyclinic, equipped with an ambulance and state of the art equipment and services to cater to the needs of every patient. Jomarie Lanza attended the inauguration today and here's what she learned at the ribbon cutting.
Those needing of emergency medical services on the Placencia Peninsula mo longer have to panic or dread the long hours spent traveling to the nearest medical hospital or polyclinic which is either in Dangriga or Indepence.
They will now have access to round the clock care at the newly opened Placencia Polyclinic, a much needed amenity for tourists and locals:
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism
"Well if you really look into the infrastructure needed to support a tourism industry health is one of them, electricity is another,, water security road infrastructure all of those things play an important role in making a premier rest available to people from all across the world and within Belize and so when we look at the growth rate happening on the Placencia peninsula and there was no polyclinic or hospital to the level we think it should be we patterned with Norwegian from out at Harvest Caye to build this facility here."
It's a project made possible thanks to a partnership between BTB, the Ministry Of Health And Wellness and The Heinmen Robicsek Foundation, which assisted in the donation of critical items needed for the polyclinic to function.
Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health and Wellness
"You would understand as well that a lot of the equipment medical equipment was also contributed through the foundation the Heineman foundation and we also got some of the contributions from a recent donation we got from Mr and Mrs Lord that was handed over at the ceremony at KHMH. Some of the beds and so forth was also placed here. So it's a joint effort you are talking about an investment in the building alone infrastructure wise for about 3 million dollars plus the additional equipment that came in so it makes it a huge investment to the benefit of the people on the peninsula surrounding and of course nearby communities that will benefit from the health services that we are going to offer in Placencia so it is for us a great groundbreaking and inauguration here that making sure the health access to the people in this area is made available."
Though The polyclinic may have opened its doors today, the minister says their main goal from here on is ensuring the clinic is fully staffed, and that doctors are available on a daily basis
Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health and Wellness
"We know that one of the major challenges that has always been in terms of the doctors and having a doctor stationed in Placencia peninsula was always a critical issue and so we are working on that as well to see if we can get the previous facility renovated so we can have the doctors there that way doctors can available here 24/7 of course this will be a 24 hours facility and provide continuous service and routine checkups o and other specialized care when a doctor comes in. If you did the tour you would see the many areas that this building can boast about in terms of the service being provided."
Area representative Rodwell Ferguson says that he has been clamoring for a facility like this for his constituents for the past few years, and now that it's finally up and running he is much more at ease knowing that they have medical services readily available:
Rodwell Ferguson, Area Representative Stann Creek West
"This is a milestone for the entire Placencia Peninsula because it's a major tourist destination and even likewise the locals it might have maybe three thousand to five thousand people on the peninsula altogether and when there is a major health issue the closest place is independence but if you don't have a boat you can't go across the lagoon you have to drive all the way around to reach independence or Dangriga so this by itself might save lives and I am hopeful that in another six months the ministry of health can fully staff this building to be able to satisfy the need of the people in Placencia including seine bight and riversdale so I really appreciate the effort and the vision of the minister of tourism to see him use the tourism dollars where it is well needed."
