The Director of the Dominica Infirmary, Annie St. Luce, is making another appeal to family members, asking them to support their loved ones housed at the institution.
This is not the first time that St Luce has expressed concerns over the lack of support for the elderly at the Infirmary but she said it seems like her cries are falling on death ears.
In an interview with Dominicanewsonline on Monday,she made her appeal for family members to refrain from using the infirmary as a place where people are dropped and neglected.
“There are some residents here whose relatives brought them in on the day of admission and they do not visit regularly or they are barely in contact with the institution,” she said.
Many times, she said family members also change their phone numbers and forget to inform the institution.
She believes that visits help in the emotional and psychological well-being of residents so that they wouldn’t feel abandoned.
“We still have a concern about relatives not visiting regularly and relatives are not holding up to their end of the agreement by providing some sort of financial or other support to the institution,” St Luce explains.
She explained that without the help from relatives the institution struggles as it houses about 96 residents and spends over $EC3, 000 per person every month to provide medical care, meals and nursing care to residents.
The government provides a subvention towards the care of the infirmary and without that assistance, St Luce believes that the institution would have had to shut its doors.
On the flip side however, St. Luce said some residents do receive support from their relatives. She said they would visit every day and assist with their care.
There’s also another issue plaguing the institution and that is the people who St Luce said literally “drops off elderly persons by the gates without following proper protocol”
“Some people figure that they could just pick up an elderly person from anywhere and drop them at the gates of the infirmary,” she said.
According to procedure, anyone who gets admitted to the Infirmary must first go through the social welfare division. There, a report is made, a social welfare officer follows up on that report, a written report is submitted to the infirmary and the infirmary in turn follows up on that report.
She said there are also procedures that needs to be followed such as taking various tests like a Mantoux test for tuberculosis to avoid the risk of infecting others.
Another issue outlined by St Luce is the “unwanted comments made by the public about the infirmary’s staff”.
She said from all reports, the staff performs the best way they can.
St. Luce called on the public to lend a helping hand to the infirmary whether it be through cash and kind or volunteerism and added that relatives who cannot provide financial support can donate through other ways.
Changing the name from infirmary would help a ton with how it is perceived by the elderly who live there and by volunteers who would like to help but think of it more as a hospital setting, it’s a shame that families don’t check up as often as they should, empathy could help with that if they had any shame on them. Also calling it a “Senior living” is much better, I’m in school now but i look forward to helping in any way I can after my studies
Sometimes it could be krama. These old neglected people could have been …….. people who had it coming to them. The same way those who treat thier elders like …. will have it coming. But what I don’t like is people acting like these old people are saints. Its a cycle. Personally if you live so long and u cant financially support yourself and/ or no one in your family is cool with you… then you f-ed up somewhere.
If your fam is riding you, then f them. Sell all your land/property and Yolo! I aint gonna let people feed off me, while they dont give two …..
Nothing new, the same thing happens in the United States in nursing homes. Old people are put into nursing homes by their family and abandoned like garbage, no visits no nothing. Some of the people who do this are wealthy and do not want to be bothered by having an old person around who interferes with their “activities” and partying so they stick them in a nursing home. If one was to visit a nursing home they would be depressed and shocked at the way old people are treated. There is an old saying what goes around comes around.
This is another sad story and I am saying shame on the people that just dump your sick senior citizens in the Infirmary and never to return as to see how they doing everything is left to the nurses and carers not even to give a small donation to the infirmary as a thank you gesture, Shame Shame Shame on you people! I have been there 3 to4 time to visit and say hello to people i don’t even know they’re nice and clean well looked after Big hands 👐 to the people who works with the Elderly you guys doing a great job Thank You!!
Zandoli whoever you are hiding behind a fake name…it is not a good idea to make excuses for Dominicans .. There is a fundamental flaw in the character of many of our people and that is the thing that needs to be addressed.. When they think it is their personal selfish interest they can be dishonest, unfair, unreasonable,,irresponsible, cheat, steal , lie etc
Clayton, oftentimes, people behave in a manner based on the environment in which they operate. If you make people believe the Infirmary is a place where you house the indigent, don’t be surprised when they treat people who are warehoused there in the present manner.
Someone made an excellent point about opening the place for people who can afford to pay their way, thereby raising the standard such that there is not a stigma attached to the name and the place.
I am not making excuses for anyone, but you have to recognize when something is not working and you have to change course to get the desired result. Sitting on the sidelines and blaming Dominicans for their selfishness and whatever you want to attach to them is not going to get you anywhere.
You certainly are talking about yourself. Putting stigma on all Dominicans is typical of the descendent of bog land owners who think they are better than others. They will be agents of Chikita and DAAS. They can only criticize and blame but never contribute to anyone bebefit. They show no empathy and seek justice for their own siblings. But they demand credibility from their countrymen. Well credibility is earned. Even a 5 th grader is aware of this. When a highly educated person perform like a 5th grader it shows that he has lost all semblance of ethical practice.
That’s a shame but not surprise all over we have these type what the fail to realize is that is where the blessing comes from its not money that count but a little love show kindness to your elders they took care of you from birth to the time you grow up wipe your nose clean you up ect. And now you just throw them away show a little kindness a visit now & then not taking away from your time spend a little time with them on your day off brush their hair wash their feet at lease you owe them some time. One more thing I think the name should be change from infirmary to something infirmary sound so back in the 70ts
I wholeheartedly agree with everything said by the Director. Our society lacks empathy. We are to cherish and treasure our elders. They made many sacrifices for us, the younger generation. We too often treat them like derelict vehicles. When they are longer of use to us, we abandon them. Just remember, if we are blessed with longevity of life, we would want to be treated with love, kindness and dignity. Let’s all try as much as humanly possible to contribute generously to the well-being of these most vulnerable human beings.
Kudos to the people who work at that institution. Just on a side note, that place has been called the Infirmary for as long as I can remember. Perhaps if they re-branded the institution with a name change, families would not perceive it as a repository. Just saying.
Yes, the name should be changed to something like Retirement Home. The word infirmary has the connotation of a sick bay in a prison.
Also it can be upgraded for those who can afford or with relatives who can afford to pay for upkeep. This would prevent seniors living alone from being alone, and to have social company.
@Zandoli the true meaning of the word infirmary is hospital, the word infirmary is way out of date was given by the Victorians for old and poor people!!