Abandonment of elderly Vincentians continues at MCMH – PM

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves has again raised concern over the abandonment of elderly men and women in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

The Prime Minister addressed the issue as he spoke on NBC radio on Wednesday September 13.

He was commenting on a video shown to him of one male patient striking another male patient at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital.

Preliminary investigations reveal that both elderly men have been abandoned by their families and are now residents at the hospital.

Gonsalves said there are now about 10 elderly persons abandoned at the MCMH, seven males and three females.

He explained that while our elderly population is increasing, there is not enough space at the Lewis Punnet Home to house any more residents.

“The elderly population is getting more and more…people are living longer,” Gonsalves noted.

“Some families are just abandoning their elderly,” the Prime Minister said as he called on persons to take care of their elderly family members.

Gonsalves added that the abandonment of the elderly is now “a trend across the Caribbean.”

“It has reached horrific proportions.”

“It’s a sad thing,” he commented.

In 2021, in the wake of the eruptions of La Soufriere, the Prime Minister had made a plea for people to demonstrate greater care for the most vulnerable in the population. He was referring then to the elderly and children who were being left at shelters across the country.

In 2007, half of the 30 beds at the male medical ward of the MCMH were occupied by patients who had been discharged but had no where to go.