Beach chairs replacing beds at Sav Hospital

In an effort to mitigate against an on-going bed crisis, administrators at the Savanna-la-Mar hospital in Westmoreland say they have had to resort to using beach chairs to accommodate patients at its accident and emergency ward. 

According to Camille Lewin, the hospital's chief executive officer, while the hospital has bed in stock, she does not anywhere to put them.

She explained the hospital has a bed capacity for 190, but as of Tuesday morning, they were experiencing an additional intake of approximately100 additional patients many without beds.

"Last weekend we got to 291 and this morning we have 284 plus five babies," Lewin told reporters this morning.

She said the surge in the number of patients are both Dengue related and other respiratory illnesses including an increase in social cases. 

- Albert Ferguson

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