Scheduled for opening in September
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FOLLOWING months of criticisms from the Opposition St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party over the non-functioning of the Mental Health Day Treatment Center, it is expected to be renamed and operational by next month.
Junior Minister of Health, Hon. Wendy Phipps made that announcement to the media yesterday (Aug. 18) at a press conference in NEMA’s Conference Room to launch the Independence Calendar of Activities.
The Minister indicated that the renaming ceremony is slated for Friday (Sept. 8) at 10:00 a.m., while reminding that the facility would have had a soft opening in early December of 2016 when the building was completed and staff recruitment was in process.
That “soft opening” received criticisms from the SKNLP because it was revealed that the facility did not have all the equipment at the time to be fully operational.
At a recent Prime Minister’s press conference, it was revealed that the facility was met with several hurdles, including security which the government was looking to have fixed for the opening.
“We have in the process over the last couple of months been focusing on get right the standard operating procedures, as it relates to the operations of that facility. And subsequent to that, we did have some subsequent challenges to our opening date to the public and it has to do mostly with telecommunication challenges in terms of making sure that there are proper linkages between the facility and the Acute Care facility…,” Minister Phipps said.
At the conference, Minister Phipps did not provide the name of the person after whom the facility would be named, only to say that the Government Information Agency would subsequently be issuing a statement on the individual.
Pressed by SKNVibes for further details on the opening of the Mental Health Day Treatment Center, the Minister reminded that the facility which is located at the back of Limekiln should have been already opened, but they are considering September.
“The renaming is just a simple exercise of unveiling a plaque that says who the facility is named after. But we are hoping that the facility would be fully operational to the public before September 8, which is the date set here for it.”
When opened, the facility will just be used as a treatment institution which will accommodate persons on a daily basis but not housing them overnight.
