Chapter 2:12
“Hotel De Alexandra”
By Ron Daniel
Two months ago, my wife took me to the hospital after I was experiencing some pain. By the time the doctor arrived he advised me that we would need to have surgery immediately and would be hospitalized for some time. Upon hearing the news, I started to panic not because I was afraid of surgery but it would be the first time I would ever have to spend time in the hospital. I hated the hospital so much that I am often afraid to go visit people when they were in the hospital. The truth is my heart was not strong enough to see people in pain and suffering and not be able to do anything about it. The fact that I was so afraid of needles and the very smell of medicine didn’t make it any easier for me to swallow the fact that I would be hospitalized. Just before I went into surgery however, Dr Rawlins told me, Ron all you need to do is relax and enjoy Hotel De Alexandra. This article purports to show how true he really was.
One of the things that stood out to me was the professionalism and the proficiency of the nurses. Their duties were not done perfunctorily but with a premium sense of pride and passion. Their warmth and good will to literally all the patients was almost therapeutic. While I run the risk of getting into trouble I must reserve special mention for Nurse Mintos. When I got into out patient, I was in excruciating pain and Nurse Mintos was the panacea I needed. She had the uncanny ability to make you relax even during pain. She was firm and warm at the same time. It was almost as if I was the baby who was screaming uncontrollably and Nurse Mintos was the doting mother who would just pick me up and make me stop crying immediately.
I hated when she gave me the injections but it was almost as if I didn’t feel the needle piercing my flesh because Nurse Mintos was the one doing it. Nurse Pemberton who delivered the anesthesia was also another calming influence. It was as if the day she was conceived God decided that she would be a nurse. Other nurses such as Nurse Farrel, Nurse Walters and Nurse Scarbrough checked in on me regularly and made it easier for me especially when the needle with the IV went the wrong place. The truth is that there are other nurses that I must thank but I just do not know their names because they never told me. It is simply amazing how the hospital ran so smoothly although the hospital or hotel is so understaffed. It is testament to the supreme caliber of the nurses that everyone is looked after so well. No one in my ward complained about the nurses. We saw them as our friends and for the time I was there, all of the patients were full of high commendation for them and the work that they were able to produce.
It would be remiss of me not to make special mention of the maids at the hospital. The maids ensured that our ward was impeccably cleaned and did it while singing some of the old time gospel songs. They checked in on us just as if we were their patients and were quick to call the nurses or perform any task that the patients asked them to do. Of course I was in a much better state physically than many of the people on the ward as mine was just a minor surgery but the maids ensured that those who should not have to leave their bed really didn’t have to leave their bed.
Metaphorically speaking the maids were like the wheelchair for the man with no feet, the translator for the deaf and the eyes for the blind man. One of the things that I enjoyed most was their lively conversation. It is obvious that while they are not trained nurses that they know that it is important to keep the people in high spirits and to treat them with care. I must single out the lovely Ms. Jascinth Paul from Cotton Ground, Ms Pemberton from Hamilton as well as Beulah France from Bath Village and Mrs. Judith Slack from Charlestown. I thoroughly enjoyed their conversation and best wishes. While I am glad to be out of hospital, I really do miss them. My encouragement to them is to keep up the good work and to continue to add to the name Hotel De Alexandra.
The hospital or should I say hotel itself was far more comfortable than I ever imagined. I loved the adjustable bed and the fact that you could do literally anything from your hotel bed. The place was always clean and there was a television in the room for those who cared to watch although most men are not big television viewers. The hospital didn’t have that medicine-like smell that I remember as a boy growing up and the general ambience of the place was conducive to recovery. Above every bed in the General were two sets of 110 plugs that I used to plug in a labtop that a good friend of mine lent to me and do some work.
Thankfully I was also able to pick up some wireless internet access at times from Cable and Wireless whose headquarters is nearby. I was lucky to be in that ward because it is only in that ward that sporadically one can pick up wireless internet. I must say here that it is regrettable at best that neither Cable and Wireless or Caribbean Cable Communications have stepped up to the plate to offer the hospital full wireless access for the benefit of its patients. I am to hope that this can be done before Christmas this year so that if anyone has to be hospitalized during Christmas that they can still chat to their friends via instant messenger, check their mail, respond to clients, get up to date news from around the world and check out the latest video clippings on Youtube inter alia.
In conclusion let me take the time to express thanks to Dr Cardel Rawlins who performed my surgery and is also Chief Medical Officer at the hospital, Mrs. Veta Morton Hospital Administrator and all the staff at the hospital who work along with them. Together they have been able to effectively run the hospital although there is a drastic need for more nurses and more modern equipment. The staff at the hospital can give themselves a pat on the back or beat their chest for the work that they do, day in and day out. No commendation; and I am sure they will say, no salary is too much for the work they are able to produce. I don’t have to fear spending time in Alexandra Hospital. They have turned Alexandra Hospital into Hotel de Alexandra.
