Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 25, 2015 (SKNIS): Visiting Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) officials have praised the Pogson Medical Center, one of only two “smart” hospitals in the Eastern Caribbean.
Dr. Carissa Etienne, Director of PAHO, who is in the Federation on an official visit and attending the PAHO Caribbean Sub-Regional Managers Meeting, commended the government and people of St. Kitts and Nevis for having a smart hospital in a community.
“It is always so heartening to come to a community facility where care is given to people close to where they live,” Dr. Etienne said. “So I certainly look forward to this visit, particularly also because it is a smart hospital and PAHO is supportive of smart hospitals where we can be environmentally friendly and where we can have an eye on security.”
A smart hospital is a hospital where green initiatives are employed in the regular functioning of the health institution that encompasses the deployment of information and communication technology systems for more efficient delivery of better quality health care.
Dr. Etienne further went on to say that “the most important aspect of health is what happens in the community” and commended persons in the health sector for their work done and for allowing PAHO to work and collaborate with them.
She encouraged officials to continue “working with their communities to ensure that they have health and well-being.”
“We strive with love in our hearts to ensure that people can live with dignity, that they can live productive lives,” she said. “If each of us commits to this, we can ensure that not only in the Caribbean, but beyond, that we can have people who can really produce, who can really be citizens that bring prosperity to their countries”
The Honourable Wendy Phipps, Minister of State within the Ministry of Health formally thanked everyone who accommodated the visiting team, comprising the PAHO officials as well as the new Minister of Health, Honourable Eugene Hamilton,
“This has been an eye-opening visit for Hon. Hamilton and me because of course, we are on the job for less than 48 hours,” Minister Phipps stated. “What we have achieved here at Pogson is benchmarking. It is something that has the potential to become a best practice model elsewhere and we will try our best, in terms of maintaining what we have.
“It is one thing to invest in a system or structure, so that it keeps up with international standards. That you look at environmental sustainability and preservation in everything that we do. If we don’t maintain the infrastructure that we have invested in, in the long term we would not have helped anyone and we would have done a disservice to the country.”
Minister Phipps encouraged everyone to get involved not only where the health sector is concerned.
“I think the goal is to look around us and see where else we can replicate similar success models, not just limited to public buildings, as in the case of hospitals and the rest of the medical infrastructure, but even in the terms of private residences and the corporate community,” she stated.
Minister Phipps asked the nurses at the hospital to take care of the facilities so that they can be of benefit to the end users, who are the people.