Infirmary, outpatient clinic commissioned at Palms

Residents of the Palms Geriatric Institution will benefit from the commissioning of an $18M infirmary and outpatient clinic on Monday at the institution on Brickdam, Georgetown.

The facilities will benefit approximately 200 residents at the oldest senior care facility in Guyana, a release from the Department of Public Information (DPI) said.

The infirmary is equipped with an infectious ward, a doctor’s office and an observation ward with six beds. The outpatient clinic has a waiting area, a doctor’s office, and a dispensary.

At the ceremonial opening, Minister of Social Protection, Amna Ally said “we cannot bypass our elderly, and every day we look at the improvement of the services that we can provide for our elderly at the Palms and today, this is a manifestation to show that we really do care for them.”

Ally urged the staff to recognise the importance of such a project and warned against the mistreatment of the residents of the facility. “One day we are going to get old and we would not like when we get old to be mistreated and so, like our elders we would also like to ensure that we are given the best treatment.”

Director of Social Services, Wentworth Tanner explained that the ward will specifically cater for those persons with communicable diseases; thereby ensuring that they are quarantined.

“We took a lot of things into consideration here, in the infectious ward there are special bath rails, special bath stools, to ensure that the best possible care can be provided here, so that persons transitioning from the Georgetown Hospital back to the Palms, or persons who would have contacted some infection from the wards or any other place,” Tanner explained.

The project will see a reduction in the number of referrals to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, DPI said.

There will be two medical doctors on call 24 hours per every day.