Saint Lucia witnesses opening of the Micoud Wellness Centre

Saint Lucia: The newly built Micoud Wellness Centre is now open to the residents of Micoud and surrounding communities and is classified as a “Center of Excellence for Chronic Diseases.”

Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs Jenny Daniel says the opening of this facility will demonstrate the ministry’s goal of strengthening the primary healthcare services in Saint Lucia.

“In addition to the new modern structure and functional designs, the ministry has also taken steps to enhance and strengthen our services and delivery of care to patients in the following manner. One is the establishment of a dental clinic for the very first time at the Micoud Wellness Centre and, more broadly, within the entire Region 4 of the health sector. Two, the introduction of new biomedical equipment including the following; an AED machine, which is used to treat cardiac arrest, an ECG or EKG machine, which is used to monitor the electrical activity of the heart, a urine analyzer, nebulizer, auto scope and orthoscope to name a few. The introduction of this new equipment is consistent with the ministry’s strategic objective to enhance the treatment and management of chronic diseases, thereby reducing the pressure placed on our national hospitals.”

Minister for Health Moses Jn. Baptiste says providing quality healthcare to the people of Saint Lucia is the number one priority of the government.

“Primary care, as the nurses will tell you, means that we want to ensure that the services here can serve the people who do not necessarily require secondary care at the hospitals. I wish to thank the World Bank. It also means, more importantly, that the knowledge and skills that are required to prevent illness in the first place will be available here. We will go one step further to develop centres of excellence all around Saint Lucia, and it is my dream that our various wellness centres will become centres of excellence for various aspects of healthcare.”

Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Philip J Pierre says his government will continue to invest in the people of Saint Lucia and provide healthcare services.

“I am extremely pleased because I know of the importance of health and health services to the people of Saint Lucia. Once we decide to take care of our health and taking care of our health can be simple. It just takes a little bit of discipline and sacrifice. I am very happy we are here, and I hope you use the health facility to the best of your ability; it was a long time coming.”

Parliamentary Representative for Micoud North Jeremiah Norbert welcomed the reopening of the facility and called on residents to maximize the primary healthcare services offered.

“I just want to thank everyone who played their part in bringing this project to life, ensuring today that we have a Micoud Wellness Centre that we are proud of. One that we can call our own. One that will take away our problems where we had problems with comfort, with ease, with access at the old centre. I am happy that we shall no longer have these problems at this facility, at this health institution. Thank you to everyone.”

The new Micoud Wellness Centre offers primary healthcare services, including dental care, health education, chronic non-communicable diseases screening and management, and maternal and child care, to name a few.

The construction of the facility was totally funded by the Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project DVRP to the tune of EC$6.1 million dollars.