A ceremony was held on Monday, July 27 to break ground for the Belmopan Polyclinic II, which will be located on the compound of the Western Regional Hospital.
The facility will be used to provide primary health services to residents of Belmopan and nearby villages of Roaring Creek, Camalote, St. Matthew’s, Cotton Tree, Frank’s Eddy, More Tomorrow, St. Margaret, and Armenia. Services will include medical consultations for the outpatient department, maternal and child health services – including immunization, prenatal, postnatal, family planning, cancer screening, child health – dental health, mental health, pharmacy, and phlebotomy services.
The project is funded through a loan at an estimated BZ$1.4 million by the Caribbean Development Bank and the Government of Belize, and implemented through the Social Investment Fund.
The Poly Clinic will come with 7,600 square feet of reinforced concrete, air condition and aluminum window ventilation. Such a large space will be in keeping with maintaining minimum person to person distance in the era of a pandemic.
The Minister of Health Hon. Pablo Marin stated that the facility is much needed since the demand for primary health care services in Belmopan and its catchment area has increased over the last three years. He added that the facility would assist in strengthening the health system response by providing a spacious, clean and climate-resilient polyclinic for the communities it will serve.
In his keynote address, the Hon. Pablo Marin reminded that he was going about doing what the normal people request. Minister Marin said that we need to care about the poor people of Belize; especially those who cannot afford a private clinic.
The Hon. Patrick Faber, Party Leader of the United Democratic Party and Minister of Education, Youth, Sports and Culture also added that all these efforts were to “ensure that the service of our Government can be had all over this Country”
Minister Patrick Faber congratulated Minister Pablo Marin and his team for continuing to serve “the needs in this country.”
The project is aligned with the Government of Belize’s Growth and Sustainable Development Strategy, which aims to improve the overall health and wellbeing of the Belizean population, as well as the Ministry of Health’s core objective of providing universal access and coverage for Belizeans.
As it stands the Western Regional Hospital (WRH) continues to serve a multitude of functions. In his opening remarks, Dr. Javier Zuniga, manager of the Western Region reported that the WRH serves as a referral hospital for the San Ignacio areas and Southern Region, fulfilling the needs of some 100,000 persons. These services include internal medicine, accident and emergency, primary health care, outpatient services, dental and mental health. The latter two services will be translocated to the Polyclinic Two, when it is completed.
“To further develop the human development needs of women, men and children,” said Dr. Zuniga.
In his thank you remarks, the Mayor of the Garden City Khalid Belisle reminded that this Saturday Belmopan celebrated half a century of existence.
“The new space will go a long way to ensure that when these maladies (such as COVID-19) affect us, we can combat them properly,” he said.
