Issued: November 12, 2017.

TCI Hospital provides a 24-hour service, and therefore, both health care facilities are maintained throughout the year with an aim to provide minimal disruption to clinical services during engineering works. Specialist engineers continue to work expeditiously to repair any outstanding mechanical issues at Cheshire Hall Medical Centre sustained as a result of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in September.

These issues are connected to water pressure, internal supply and return feeds, which support the cooling system within the facility. As a result, a temporary reduction in cooling capacity took place over recent days to facilitate a replacement of some internal supply/return pipes on the chilled water closed loop system at the Providenciales facility.

A temporary reduction in the cooling capacity is unavoidable under these special circumstances due to the nature of the repairs, and specialist engineers have worked swiftly to complete these essential repairs to support the seamless delivery of routine clinical services.

Emergency Services continue to function at full capacity and the department continues to serve all levels of acuity. However, the Operating Theatre and Diagnostic Imaging Departments at Cheshire Hall Medical Centre were placed in emergency mode due to temperature sensitive equipment. Any changes to routine clinical services and scheduled appointments have been communicated to patients and staff.

To date, 40 joints/elbows along with multiple stretches of pipe work have been replaced. This work has been completed promptly and efficiently whilst working around our patient base in some cases as departmental services continue. The work continued throughout the bank holiday weekend, and an upon retesting the system this past Sunday, further pipe breaches were detected in areas that were previously unaffected.

All repairs are projected to be completed by today, Wednesday 29th November 2017 followed by a reactivation and analysis of the system. If there are no further breaches to the chilled water closed loop pipe system, normal cooling temperatures should resume by late this afternoon.

A strategic range of measures were activated to ensure safety and some level of comfort to both staff and patients during this period. These measures include, but are not limited to the following protocols:
All external doors are opened at 7.30a.m. to allow for fresh air ventilation and closed at 6.00p.m. to minimise impact of dawn/dusk and mosquitoes.

All public areas and departments are ventilated with the exception of any areas which would result in Infection Prevention Control or security issues such as special precaution rooms.

Portable floor standing fans have been allocated to all areas with instruction for use and location for best efficiency, cooling and airflow.

Communications have been consistently disseminated to all building users with regard to minimising the use of equipment on standby, and stopping use of some non-essential lights during the day to reduce internal building temperatures.

Environmental Health and Safety inspections take place throughout the day starting at 6.45a.m. by the Facilities Department Duty Manager who conduct environmental scans for leaks, floor surfaces, temperature analysis, and continued management of the building for patients and staff.

Since the adjustment in cooling capacity across the building, there has been no reported issues of condensation slips, trips or falls due to humidity in the building. Floor surfaces are safe and maintained for staff and patients.

The Ministry of Health clinic waiting room has been relocated to the main corridor to allow persons to take full advantage of the natural air inflow.

The Catering Team recently commenced routine water distribution rounds for patients, InterHealth Canada and Ministry of Health staff throughout the day in Outpatient and In-patient areas to ensure hydration. Coconut water has also been distributed to staff to ensure the replenishment of electrolytes.

All front of house departments have been issued with Mosquito repellant spray for use of staff and public. There has been increased vigilance with waste management across the hospital and additional environmental checks to prevent any inflow of flies.

A request has been made to TCI’s Ministry of Health for external areas around the facility perimeter to be fogged in an effort to reduce any potential mosquito population growth. This is particularly important whilst external fire doors are used for ventilation during the daytime hours. Fogging took place around 7:00pm on Tuesday 28, November 2017.

The facilities team continue to provide and monitor support services particularly those in high temperature areas such as the laundry, kitchen and plant works. Staff are monitored for hydration, and rested within the building periodically throughout their shift, allowing for further hydration breaks as required.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank our patients and staff for their understanding.