The Ministry of Health and Wellness yesterday reopened the Elizabeth Estates Community Clinic after three years of closure following extensive upgrades to better accommodate a growing number of patients, with improvements focused on creating a smoother, more efficient flow throughout the clinic, officials said.
The newly-reopened clinic will now operate as an urgent care facility, with the introduction of new, state-of-the-art medical services. The transition also brings extended operating hours, ensuring patients have greater access to care when they need it most.
“The newly renovated facility is an additional 5,000 square feet,” Minister of Health and Wellness Dr. Michael Darville said at the reopening of the Elizabeth Estates Community Clinic.
“We had to make sure that the patient flow was right and we had to add in all of the preventive infectious disease components to the clinic so that it can operate effectively. God forbid, we have any form of infectious disease.
“One of the interesting things about this facility is we are in the final stages of digitization and so we needed to make sure we had the appropriate high-speed internet so that our e-clinical records could be implemented and the services to be provided in all the examining room… We are adding lab, digital x-rays and diagnostics so our doctors will be able to see the patient.
“The patient will go to do the various investigations, and all of the information will be forwarded back to the examining room for the doctors to review to make a final diagnosis.
“This is brand new because it moves the clinic from a primary healthcare facility to more of an urgent care one where we can provide more complicated services and keep the clinic open at longer hours, hopefully until about midnight.”
The renovation and reopening of the clinic are a part of the Davis administration’s agenda to advance healthcare throughout the country.
Elizabeth MP JoBeth Coleby-Davis said, “Healthcare is a serious concern for our community, and your presence here today is a strong indication of the passion and hope in this moment.
“More importantly, the reopening of the Elizabeth Estates Community Clinic is a significant milestone that will go a long way in improving the delivery of health care services for the surrounding neighborhoods.
“Having served our community since 1989, the renovations undertaken by the Ministry of Health and Wellness will allow for a greater number of patients to be served and the expansion of dental health services.”
She continued, “This approach by the government has been deliberate as we fundamentally believe that health care must not be centralized, but rather easily accessible to our communities and most especially to our senior citizens, or as I call them, my Elizabeth Pearls.”
