??
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital. (FP)??

With Barbados recording two to three strokes a day, management of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital will be creating a 20-bed Acute Stroke Rehab Unit at the Martindale’s Road, St. Michael institution.

Construction is set to begin next week on the unit which will be situated where Ward C10 is now located. The creation of this unit will allow for the rehabilitation of patients to be concentrated in a dedicated area.

Director of Engineering Services at the QEH, Paula Agbowu, explained that the ward has to be vacated in order for the reconfiguration to take place.??

"Currently, Ward C10 comprises patients presenting with various ailments. These persons are scheduled to be relocated to various wards throughout the hospital, from Saturday, March 23 to Sunday, March 24, in order for construction to begin the following day. The construction period will be approximately six weeks with the stroke unit opening at the beginning of May. This move will not compromise the level of care administered to these existing patients as the medical team has put a thorough plan in place to handle this temporary dislocation," she said.

Mrs. Agbowu added that the refurbishment work would include the installation of piped medical gases, the removal and replacement of worn floor coverings, improvements to plumbing fixtures, upgrades to the kitchen, sluice and treatment rooms as well as reconstruction of the bathrooms. She noted that there would be some measure of dust and noise during the construction period and asked members of the public to "bear with us as we seek to improve the facilities".

In addition to the Acute Stroke Rehab Unit, there will be a four-bed Acute Stroke Unit housed in the High Dependency Unit (HDU) that will treat more critically ill stroke patients.

Besides beds, this unit will require four monitors with a central monitoring system, two ventilators and two suction machines. The hospital’s management is inviting any donations towards these pieces of equipment.

melissa.rollock@barbados.gov.bb

Pin It on Pinterest