BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, Feb. 3.2018 – JUNIOR Minister of Health, Hon. Wendy Phipps has confirmed that the Government will be renaming the Mental Health Facility in the new week.
The Facility was scheduled to be renamed in September last year, but the passage of Hurricanes Irma and Maria forced the government to push back a planned ceremony.
Minister Phipps, while speaking with SKNVibes News yesterday (Feb. 12), confirmed that the renaming comes just in time for the government’s anniversary.
“That is going to be renamed sometime in next week. It is part of the calendar of activities for the government’s anniversary.”
The ceremony will be held on February 20 at the Lime Klin location.
She explained that the Center was opened in September of last year and is currently fully operational.
However, she pointed out that there is still some amount of work that is left to be completed for the Center, but that is not preventing the facility from being open to patients.
“There is still some work that needs to be done to fine-tune the interconnectivity between the hospital Psychiatric Unit as well as the Mental Health Day Treatment Center, which is outside the scope of the Ministry of Health,” she stated.
She elucidated that the interconnectivity is an IT related matter which is an infrastructure matter.
“But we are sufficiently prepared in terms of our house infrastructure as it comes to the services that would have allowed us to be opened to the public.”
She disclosed that they are not up to the full capacity that they can accommodate on a daily basis, but noted they are treating approximately six to eight patients.
The Minister stated that the facility can accommodate no more than 20 persons on a daily basis, but a determination was made to start with a manageable number.
