THE South Beach Health Centre (SBHC) has resumed triage services for people suffering from respiratory illness, the Ministry of Health advised yesterday.
In a statement, the ministry said the move took effect Wednesday and added that operation hours for this service are from Monday to Friday, starting at 9am to 5pm.
Bahamas Nurses Union president Amancha Williams said she was told the decision to resume services was made to accommodate patients who otherwise wouldn’t be able to be treated at Princess Margaret Hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department due to ongoing renovations there.
“Because we now don’t have A and E (which is) under the renovations, we have to open up various centres to accommodate the influx here in a space that can only probably hold ten people or 18 people which A and E only have sixty people coming in,” she said when contacted by this newspaper yesterday.
“So, we have to divert to various areas so that is the reason why basically, to my understanding that we are basically opening up various areas to accommodate them and you know South Beach is really our centre place.
“So, we are looking at all avenues and we have to be in preparation due to the renovations of A and E. We can’t hold all those persons, and this is the season for flu. We’ve also seen asthmatic patients and we still have COVID going on so we must have a plan in the event that we have an outbreak.”
Earlier this month, The Tribune reported that local health officials have seen a rise in the number of reported flu cases in the country, particularly Influenza A.
Yesterday, Ms Williams told The Tribune that while medical workers continue to see and treat cases, they are not experiencing a surge of infections.
The flu season usually starts in late September or early October and ends around March, according to local officials.
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