JOINT PRESS RELEASE FROM TCI HOSPITAL AND TCI GOVERNMENT

Outpatient Department Renovation Project Complete

(Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands – Friday, 3 July 2020): The renovation project to support ventilator connections in the Outpatient Department at Cheshire Hall Medical Centre has been completed several days ahead of schedule. As a result, the area will be accessible and reopen for staff and patient use on Monday July 6th, 2020. Alternative clinical areas were used to operate outpatient services during the renovation period.

A total of 12 rooms in the outpatient department are now equipped with medical gas lines and electrical fixtures to support ventilator connections. Brand-new Hamilton G5 ventilators were used to test the newly installed medical gas lines this week. A total of six (6) of these ventilators were received from Public Health England in partnership with the TCIG over recent weeks to expand the number of ventilators available across both medical centres.

The completion of the renovation work is a major step in the plans to expand critical care capacity in response to COVID-19. The other pending components are related to the supply and installation of an oxygen generator along with the receipt of additional equipment from the TCI Government – Ministry of Health. These elements and others are under active discussion and procurement.

The outpatient department area will be utilized for patient surges and critical care in a worst-case scenario as a part of the health sector capacity being built in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Designated rooms on the general ward are currently the location used for the isolation and clinical management of patients affected with COVID-19, and shall remain the primary location once the capacity exists.