English River Health Centre’s new extensions inaugurated |17 June 2019

The extension block at the English River Health Centre is in use after it was officially opened by Health Minister Jean-Paul Adam following completion of works.

Minister Adam officially opened this new addition in the presence of the chief executive of Health Care Agency, Dr Danny Louange, member of the National Assembly for English River, Wilbert Herminie, health professionals, business representatives, staff of the English River Health Centre and school children.

Construction works at that clinic started in August 2018 and were completed this year. They involved the addition of rooms and facilities for the improvement in the delivery of health care services at the centre at the cost of R2.6 million.

May Malcouzane, nurse manager at the English River Health Centre, gave a detailed explanation on the changes: “We have new rooms and facilities which include a more spacious accident and emergency unit, an improved dressing room with its own waiting room, extra doctors consultation rooms including for specialists services, new room for pharmacy, extension of the records unit and the creation of more conducive environment for health care workers and clients as well. All these will help in the quality of care that we give.”

She thanked the Health Care Agency and the Ministry of Health for making all these happen.

Minister Adam noted that “it is fitting to see people from various walks of life coming together for this opening as our health is not only about building. It is about how we bring everyone together to provide better health foundation. Health in everything we do is our mantra! Now we have more space to cater for accidents and emergency which will help relieve the pressure on the casualty department at the Seychelles Hospital. It also has improved dressing facility which is one of the core facilities being used by the community; more consultation rooms allowing better access for specialist services, more space for the pharmacy – which is one of the critical areas of care; improvements in the records unit and generally the creation of a more conducive environment for the staff and for the persons who use it. It is to be noted that this health centre serves a population of almost 22,000 from five districts that fall within the region of Victoria – Bel Air, St Louis, Mont Buxton, English River and Perseverance.”

Minister Adam also said there are many things that happen daily in the English River Health Centre.

“Many things that do not make the news – whether a child coming for a vaccination, a diabetic patient coming for dressing or whether somebody coming to learn about family planning services. Many people do not realise that in this facility we have a service known as the child development centre which helps us deliver a better service to our children and also allow research to go forward. This also allows us to cater for better services to the needs of the community,” pointed out Minster Adam.

He also expressed that primary health care is the building block of Seychelles’ success story in terms of health. Every Seychellois lives within 20 minutes access to a health care service and this is the key for achieving universal access to health care.

“We recognise that all over Seychelles, access is there. What remains to be done is that access covers all the eventualities and address the ever-changing needs of our population, in particular the rise of non-communicable diseases. It is with this in mind that later in July, we will be organising a primary health care conference wherein local stakeholders are expected to review the state of primary health care in Seychelles and explore ways on how to improve these services,” said Minister Adam.

Inhabitants of the five districts are already benefitting from services located in these new extensions, and for the relief of the people, even the toilets have been refurbished.

The accompanying photographs show highlights of the opening ceremony.