(Seychelles News Agency) - A new family hospital in Seychelles specialising in services for children and women officially opened on Thursday.

The facility is on Perseverance, a reclaimed island on the outskirts of the Seychelles’ capital Victoria, and is already receiving patients. 

The Seychelles Family Hospital has 30 inpatient beds, four Intensive Care Unit beds and four operating theatre beds. It also has modern equipment to cater for children with hearing difficulties. The hospital will handle all stages of maternity cases.

At the official opening, Minister of Health Jean-Paul Adam said, “This new hospital is a state-of-the art facility. It has been built using an innovative modular concept.”

The Seychelles Family Hospital was officially opened by President Danny Faure. (Louis Toussaint, Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

“We will be offering more services at the hospital, helping to decongest the main hospital at Mont Fleuri,” added the minister.

The new hospital is temporarily housing patients from the female medical ward at the Seychelles Hospital which will soon be undergoing renovation. The ministry also plans on moving English River health centre’s family planning, ante-natal, post-natal and child health services to the new facility. 

A doctor at the new hospital, Micky Monthy, told SNA that it is a big change and they have to adapt to the new facilities as patients are now being admitted into cubicles.

“We have good and modern equipment to help us professionals discharge our role. We also have an intensivist (person specialising in the care of critically ill patients) who will be stationed at the ICU in case of emergencies,” he added. 

Speaking to SNA, Marline Lebon, who is a patient at the hospital, said that since they arrived they are being treated well.

The hospital has already started taking in patients. (Louis Toussaint, Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

The hospital will be opened for other services in three weeks but the Ministry is advising patients to keep using other medical facilities available on Mahe the main island.

Construction on the facility sponsored by the Sheikh Kalifah Bin Zayed Al Nayan Foundation took 10 months. The family hospital was handed over to the Ministry of Health on August 9. Patients moved in end of October.

A representative of the Foundation, Ahmed Saeed Alneyadi, said that they are very happy and honoured to donate such modern facility to Seychelles.

He said that the Foundation has agreed to provide the hospital with specialist and help maintain the equipment.