As part of the planned improvement of the Health and Medical Services in Anguilla, a new extension to the Maternity Ward is to be constructed at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.
The project, for which bids are expected to be announced shortly, moved closer to reality when a ground-breaking ceremony was held at the proposed site on Monday evening this week.
The ground-breaking event was performed by Governor Tim Foy, OBE, Mr. Evans McNiel Rogers, Minister of Health and Social Development, Mrs. Blondel Cluff, CBE, the Anguilla UK/EU Representative in London and Special Adviser to Chief Minister, Mr. Victor Banks; and Dr. Godfrey Xuereb, Representative for PAHO/WHO in the Eastern Caribbean.
Permanent Secretary Health, Mr. Foster Rogers, who delivered the welcome remarks, said it was important to ensure that personnel at the hospital not only have the facilities to work with, but the necessary equipment and training as well. He saw the proposed extension as another effort to improve the health and medical services in Anguilla.
Minister Evans McNiel Rogers said: “Our needs are many, but our resources are few. Let me take this opportunity to thank the Pan American Health Organisation for all it has done, and continues to do, for the overall development of healthcare in Anguilla and for the development of our healthcare professionals as well.
“We are here specifically for a ground-breaking ceremony for an extension to the Maternity Ward. I want to place on record my profound and sincere appreciation for the work that Mrs. Blondel Cluff, Anguilla’s UK and EU Representative in the United Kingdom, and a descendant of Anguillian parentage, born in the UK, is doing.”
Mr. Rogers continued: “I deem it an honour and a privilege, standing here as Minister of Health, to thank the entire healthcare team for the work they have done in the past and continue to do in serving the people of Anguilla. Some of the negative talk will continue to go around, but I can assure you that the healthcare professionals, with their limited resources and capacities in some instances, and the work they have achieved, not only post Hurricane Irma, but continue to do, is alarming. I want to publicly say thanks to all the healthcare workers for what they have done.”
The Minister promised that, with the help of God, he would ensure that there was a marked improvement in the delivery of healthcare services in Anguilla. “I am referred to as the begging minister and I wear that crown very well and proudly because, at the end of the day, whatever is achieved in Anguilla, in terms of the improvement of healthcare services, is for the people of Anguilla,” he added.
He took the opportunity to thank the contractors who had already done some reconstruction and improvement work at the hospital following Hurricane Irma.
Mrs. Blondel Cluff, who raised the money for the extension of the Maternity Ward – in conjunction with the West India Committee, of which she is Chief Executive – also spoke at the event. “I have to say to everyone that it is an absolute pleasure to be home and I also want to congratulate you,” she told the healthcare workers. What you have done, in the face of adversity, has been second to none and you have made those of us, who were born in Slough, the other branch of the [Anguillian] family, extremely proud.
“You have not only endured one of the worst hurricanes on record, but have shown strength and continue to unify in order to present Anguilla not only as a victim of circumstance, but as a centre of excellence. Anguillian people, the world is watching you today and the world will continue to watch what you do. This is a world that is admiring Anguilla and, in many instances, it is a world that has only just discovered that we exist.
“I have to say that what is going on here today touches my heart particularly because, some twenty years ago, I almost died of an ectopic pregnancy; and it was the facility of a maternity ward that saved my life and allowed me, four years later, to go on to have a wonderful bouncing baby boy whose birthday is later this week. So I am a proud mother of three boys and at the end of the day I could have lost my life in that process so I know more than most how valuable facilities such as this are.”
She further stated: “As Minister Rogers has intimated we, in London, have not only been representing Anguilla, but we have been busy trying to put together some funding to help you as best we can and… I am pleased to announce that, at the moment, I believe that we are in a position to totally fund the building of this extension and I hope that we can pull this off together. Understand this, my friends: this is not just an extension to the hospital. This is an illustration to the world that Anguilla is a place to be reckoned with, not only in terms of what Mother Nature meted out to us, but in terms of our position as an unusual entity in the world – one of the few remaining [British] territories that exist on this planet.
“This is an unusual situation and it means, in most instances, that people can’t actually understand what we are, who we are, and in certain circles they can’t actually hear what we have to say. So demonstrate to them by your actions, speak not only through words, but speak through your actions – actions that not only make us, who are Anguillians, proud, but you make everyone who resides under a Union Jack proud to share that flag with you.”
The ground-breaking ceremony was chaired by Mrs. Alecia Haywood, Departmental Head at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. The opening prayer was delivered by retired Nurse, Mrs. Serene Carter-Davis, a Member of the Health Authority of Anguilla. The Vote of Thanks was given by Mrs. Colvette Coley, Director of Nursing Services.
