A number of the health facilities throughout St. Vincent and the Grenadines will soon be getting an upgrade; and three new facilities are to be built.{{more}}

These plans were disclosed by Minister of Health Cecil Mckie, who said these upgrades are necessary in order to continue his Ministry’s mission of promoting healthier living for Vincentians.

“We have identified upgrades to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, which is our chief medical facility here. We are looking to also do upgrades to a number of our clinics and health centers.

“There are also plans to build two additional Polyclinics at Mesopotamia and Buccament, and we are looking at putting in a new health centre in Bequia as well as upgrading the Bequia hospital,” the Health Minister stated at a press conference at the Ministry of Health last week.

According to the Minister, having the facilities may not be sufficient as there will also be the need to ensure that the capacity is in place to occupy these facilities and to be able to extend the services that are required.

“As a result, we are paying particular attention to training 100 or more nurses every year and not only train them, but seek additional opportunities for them to continue that training program as they go through the nursing service. Same with the doctors. We are making a conscious effort to identify a strategic plan that caters for the various skill sets in the medical field that will be required,” Mckie added.

Looking at the aspect of administration, Mckie has ensured that the necessary trained personnel will be put in place to execute the duties required.

Boasting about some of the new medical services to be offered, Mckie also made mention of the newest piece of equipment that was recently installed at the Milton Cato Memorial hospital.

“A couple weeks ago, we put in place a new CT scan machine. This machine offers a critical service that allows us to analyze and come up with diagnosis for patients that are ailing and need medical attention.

“This equipment will allow us significant strides in that regard,” the Minister stated.

A CT (computerized tomography) scanner is a special kind of X-ray machine. Instead of sending out a single X-ray through your body as with ordinary X-rays, several beams are sent simultaneously from different angles.(AA)