{"id":267018,"date":"2026-02-13T04:35:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T08:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=267018"},"modified":"2026-02-12T18:36:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T22:36:33","slug":"slbmc-moves-to-restore-beds-as-new-nurses-arrive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/slbmc-moves-to-restore-beds-as-new-nurses-arrive\/","title":{"rendered":"SLBMC Moves to Restore Beds as New Nurses Arrive"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre is preparing to bring a closed wing back into service as administrators work to relieve overcrowding in the Emergency Room and inpatient wards.<\/p>

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Medical Director Dr. Shivon Belle-Jarvis said the hospital, built to accommodate 185 beds, is currently functioning with 158 due to staffing constraints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a 185-bedded facility, but we\u2019re currently operating at a 158-bed capacity, and the challenge has been beds as well as human resources,\u201d she said.<\/p>

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Roughly two dozen beds have remained offline because of limited personnel. That is expected to change with the arrival of newly recruited Ghanaian nurses, who are scheduled to begin duties this week.<\/p>

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\u201cNow that we\u2019ve gotten the additional strength from the Ghanaian Brigade, and they\u2019re going to start on Monday, once we operationalize the beds, we\u2019ll be able to expand that space,\u201d Belle-Jarvis said, noting that the move will allow patients to be transferred more quickly from the Emergency Room to wards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health officials say restoring bed capacity should ease bottlenecks and improve patient flow at the country\u2019s main referral hospital.<\/p>

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Belle-Jarvis added that while staffing gains are a step forward, infrastructure and equipment gaps remain. \u201cInfrastructural challenges, equipment challenges \u2014 we still have a long way to go,\u201d she said, calling for sustained investment to strengthen healthcare services.<\/p>\n

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The Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre is preparing to bring a closed wing back into service as administrators work to relieve overcrowding in the Emergency Room and inpatient wards. Medical Director Dr. Shivon Belle-Jarvis said the hospital, built to accommodate 185 beds, is currently functioning with 158 due to staffing constraints. \u201cWe\u2019re a 185-bedded facility, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":177756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-267018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"yoast_head":"\nSLBMC Moves to Restore Beds as New Nurses Arrive - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/slbmc-moves-to-restore-beds-as-new-nurses-arrive\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SLBMC Moves to Restore Beds as New Nurses Arrive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre is preparing to bring a closed wing back into service as administrators work to relieve overcrowding in the Emergency Room and inpatient wards. Medical Director Dr. Shivon Belle-Jarvis said the hospital, built to accommodate 185 beds, is currently functioning with 158 due to staffing constraints. \u201cWe\u2019re a 185-bedded facility, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/slbmc-moves-to-restore-beds-as-new-nurses-arrive\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-13T08:35:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-12T22:36:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:696\/h:392\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/SLBMSJ-Hospital.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"696\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"392\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/slbmc-moves-to-restore-beds-as-new-nurses-arrive\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/slbmc-moves-to-restore-beds-as-new-nurses-arrive\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"SLBMC Moves to Restore Beds as New Nurses Arrive\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-13T08:35:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-12T22:36:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/slbmc-moves-to-restore-beds-as-new-nurses-arrive\/\"},\"wordCount\":227,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/slbmc-moves-to-restore-beds-as-new-nurses-arrive\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:696\/h:392\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/SLBMSJ-Hospital.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Featured\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/slbmc-moves-to-restore-beds-as-new-nurses-arrive\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/slbmc-moves-to-restore-beds-as-new-nurses-arrive\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/slbmc-moves-to-restore-beds-as-new-nurses-arrive\/\",\"name\":\"SLBMC Moves to Restore Beds as New Nurses Arrive - 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