Ready to serve the community with added amenities

IN an effort to provide a better service to riverine residents of the Essequibo River, Region Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara) the Fort Island Health Centre was recently renovated, a promise fulfilled by the current administration.

The nurse-in-charge, Pretty Debideen, told the Pepperpot Magazine that a new waiting area outfitted with a shed and seating accommodation was added for patients’ comfort.

She stated that the renovation of the primary healthcare facility will significantly benefit the residents of Fort Island and its environs.

She serves six islands, Beezie, Dookalbo (big and small), Quarter Benabo, Walaputash and English Island.

Major repairs were also done to the building itself and the facelift was welcomed as a new coat of paint was also added to improve the general outlook of the edifice which was ‘weathered’.

Fort Island Health Centre is equipped with a triage area, a nurses’ room, a room for injection, washroom facilities, the pharmacy and the newly constructed waiting area with a shed at the rear of the building.

Debideen reported that as a tourism destination, Fort Island is fully equipped to deal with any cases of emergencies that may arise in terms of visitors falling ill while on the island on sightseeing tours.

She related that the facility is fully stocked with medications, and, by next year, she will get an assistant to help cover the catchment area.

“With an added pair of hands and expertise my work will lighten and it is an ease of burden because as is, it is just me alone covering all these islands, and it is a lot to deal with,” the nurse said.

A Community Health Worker (CHW) is being trained to assist Debideen in the New Year.

The Fort Island Health Centre provides primary health care services, including general outpatient, dressings, chronic diseases clinic, home visits, post and prenatal care, family planning and counselling.

Nurse Debideen has delivered many babies, some born at homes in the many riverine villages along the Essequibo River as far as Bethany, Karia Karia, Lower and Upper Bonasika, among other areas.

Apart from being at the health outpost from Monday to Friday from 08:00hrs to 14:30hrs, she is reachable at her home at any time.
The nurse would also make home visits to shut-ins and the bedridden and use her own boat and engine to get to pregnant women who are in labour, to deliver their babies in some cases, if it is safe to do so.

“I would assist women who cannot make it in time to the nearest hospital to deliver the baby, but it is always advisable to get to a hospital for those who have complications,” she said.
The renovated Fort Island Health Centre will bolster the services offered, making patients’ visits to the facility more comfortable without being exposed to the elements.