Since the opening of the Infectious Disease Hospital in September 2020, an estimated of 2,338 patients were admitted at the facility, 85% of whom recovered.
This is according to Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony, who noted that the operations at the Covid-19 treatment facility at Liliendaal is above-board, and that the staff there work relentlessly to save lives every day.
“From last year September when we open the facility to the end of August this year, we would’ve seen close to 2,338 admissions and of these 2,338 persons we would have 2,003 discharges. That would amount to 85 per cent of the persons who came there, were successfully treated and discharged from the hospital,” Dr Anthony pointed out.
“Unfortunately, as we know with Covid, we are going to have critically-ill patients who would come into the ICU and some of them are going to die at the hospital because of varying complications and therefore we have lost some of these patients,” he added.
According to the Health Minister, there are 57 doctors and 101 nurses running the facility.
“We also have a number of auxiliary staff that include physical therapists, pharmacists, biomedical technicians, laboratory people, and so forth. There is an adequate complement of staff that we have because of the special nature of the facility. What we have been able to do is to have extended hours how people are going to work and will keep on their shifts.”
He said health workers treating patients at the hospital are required to follow strict COVID-19 protocols including change in garments upon entering the facility and rigorous sanitising practices.
To ensure further safety, staff are also asked to refrain from leaving the facility during working hours. However, they are allowed breaks.
“Every time someone leaves the facility and would have to come in back, they will have to go through a very strict sanitising protocol. And they would also have to change their clothing because when you come in you have to decontaminate. You have to literally bathe, then change into new gowns and so forth then you can enter into the wards. So, there’s a strict process of sanitising when you’re coming in and when you’re leaving.”
With the system in place, the Health Ministry has contracted two persons to provide meals for patients and staff. The meals provided cater to the health conditions of patients.
Meals are provided at fixed hours of the day; breakfast is served at 6:30am accompanied with a pre-lunch snack for patients. Lunch is served at noon with a mid-day snack and dinner is served at 6:00pm. Health staff are provided with transportation to and from the facility.
