Palms Administrator reveals alleged homeless woman has husband
THE Brickdam, Georgetown Palms Home for the Indigent, on Monday denied that it had refused admission to an elderly homeless woman.
The Administrator, Mr. Govind Singh revealed that the woman is not homeless and he said an article in the Kaieteur News, headlined ‘Palms allegedly refuses to admit an elderly homeless woman’ is completely inaccurate. The publication said 85-year-old Joseph Stephens, of Newsettlers Arcade, Mocha, East Bank Demerara, claimed that he and fellow villagers  have been trying, for the past two months, to have the woman, identified as 76-year-old Olive King, admitted to the institution.
It added that a resident, named Shelly Smith, said the woman has no family to look after her.
But Singh refuted this claim, stating that King is, in fact, Stephens’ wife and that the institution takes a serious stand against matters of this sort.
“If an individual comes here with an application to bring someone here, we don’t just tell you to pack their bags and bring them. It could be your mother or your wife, who owns property and you want to throw the person out,’ Singh explained.
He said the institution has a mandate to care indigent persons and a bed capacity for 240 persons but, currently, it has no room.  `
Singh said efforts were made to establish contact with Stephens but he could not be located.
He also refuted the allegations, made by residents, that they took the woman to the Community Health Centre last Wednesday but were refused assistance, on the basis that the facility only rendered such service once a week and the day for it had passed.
According to Singh, the woman was looked at by the centre’s resident doctor, who, due to the seriousness of her condition, referred her to Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH), as the clinic is only equipped to provide basic medical care.
He drew attention, too, to the fact that the persons involved did go to see him.
The Palms was established in 1874 under British colonial rule and called ‘The Alms House’ but a century later, in 1974, it was renamed ‘The Palms’ and is now fully funded by the Guyana Government and administered by the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security.