THE Oscar Joseph District Hospital in Charity, Region Two, is set to be upgraded to ensure the provision of efficient health care services to residents in the region.
This decision was made following a recent meeting between Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall and hospital staff.
“We keep hearing a lot of issues to delivery of our services and these issues are not limited to Region Two and Oscar Joseph Hospital but across the country… for us as Government, we have a commitment that we have a covenant that we signed with people on Election Day. One of those covenants is that we must enhance the services that we provide,” he said.
The upgrade to the hospital will include staff training, improved record-keeping, addressing drug shortages and enhancement works.
Minister Dharamlall said he hopes the facility would be able to provide 24-hour service and noted that changes needed to be made for the benefit of all, especially the attitude of the staff towards patients.

“So, I think when people come into this hospital, they must feel like this is a place that they would like to be in. We should not want to be in a hospital, but when you come to the hospital, you must feel like I’m going to leave here healthy; so you can’t come into the hospital and people do not speak or welcome you nicely.
“If it’s one thing that this government will not tolerate is disrespect and we don’t care how superior you feel you are. We will not tolerate disrespect and disrespect goes both ways. People should not disrespect you and you should not disrespect them,” he said.
Currently, four doctors and over 20 nurses are attached to the hospital.
Moving forward, the hospital is expected to broaden its reach via radio and television shows, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minister Dharamlall said such will allow the medical teams to educate persons on the importance of the vaccine, since the region’s vaccination rate has been stagnant for some time.