NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (October 11, 2021)- – Nevis has received a 40-bed capacity field hospital that will be used to bolster the island’s ability to house COVID-19 patients should the need arise.

Field hospitals are mobile hospital tents that can be assembled wherever needed to offer medical care to patients.

According to Hon. Premier Mark Brantley, Senior Minister of Health in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA), the field hospital will serve as a back up facility to house patients in the event that the Alexandra Hospital runs out bed space due to increased number of COVID-19 hospitalizations.

“I’m hopeful that investment would help if we ever get to the situation where we are running out of beds at the hospital. COVID is already having an impact on our health care system in that regard. We have already taken certain tough decisions that certain processes and elective procedures we are not going to allow…because we don’t want to clog up the hospital with individuals who are non- COVID,” he said during his monthly press conference on October 06, 2021.

Mr. Brian Dyer, Director at the Nevis Disaster Management Department (NDMD) said the field hospital is being stored at the agency’s warehouse at Long Point.

He also informed that approximately fifteen persons from Nevis from the Ministry of Health, Disaster Management, Public Works, and Fire and Rescue Services are undergoing training on St. Kitts in the assembling and disassembling, and operation of the field hospitals. The training, which runs from Monday, October 11 to Thursday, October 14, is being held at the Kim Collins Athletic Stadium, Bird Rock.

The field hospital for Nevis is one of three donated to St. Kitts and Nevis by the United States Government through its Southern Command (US SOUTHCOMM), which is responsible for providing contingency planning, operations, and security cooperation for Central and South America, the Caribbean.