Assisted Living Home Needed As Seniors Occupy At Hospital – Flax-Charles

An assisted living facility should be a priority for an National Democratic Party (NDP) government, Shereen Flax-Charles has said, warning that elderly residents are remaining at the Dr. D. Orlando Smith Hospital because their families cannot provide or afford the care they need.

Speaking on the NDP's radio programme this week, Flax-Charles pointed to what she described as 30 to 40 people living permanently at the hospital, placing financial pressure on the BVI Health Services Authority (BVIHSA).

While acknowledging the need for a detention centre and the legal obligations surrounding it, she questioned whether it should take priority over accommodation and care for retirees who can no longer manage on their own.

“For me, I think that the NDP government should be looking at an assisted living facility,” she stated.

Flax-Charles said having a house, children or other relatives does not necessarily mean an elderly person has access to suitable care. Families may be struggling financially or lack the training required to safely look after a relative.

“They’re not qualified, certified or able to give the kind of care that these elderly persons really need,” she said.

She argued that families were not necessarily asking the Government to provide accommodation free of charge. Rather, some leave relatives in hospital after admission because they know care is available there and cannot manage it themselves.

Many of those seniors, she added, had served the Territory well and deserved greater attention to their needs.

Spooner’s Estate Plans

At Large Representative and Opposition Member Ronnie Skelton said the concerns reflected the challenges the NDP administration had sought to address through its proposed elderly home at Spooner’s Estate during his tenure as health minister.

The intention, he explained, was to accommodate different levels of need, including seniors requiring care and those capable of managing aspects of daily life but needing supervision, such as help ensuring they took their medication.

Skelton acknowledged that the plans needed to be revisited, mentioning that plans were affected following the hurricane Irma in 2017.

“So it needed to go back to the drawing board,” he stated.

Plans for the Spooner’s Estate facility were publicly outlined at least as far back as 2012. The proposed community was slated to provide nursing care and assisted living, alongside amenities including a chapel, mini-mart, salon, gardening centre and recreational area.

The project also appeared in the Government’s 2013 Budget Estimates as a phased development to house the Adina Donovan Home for the Elderly at Spooner’s Estate.