Pres. Sirleaf Reassures J.F.K. Medical Center

MONROVIA(LINA)—President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has commended the chief administrator, chief medical officer, doctors and staff at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center for the services they are rendering the Liberian people.

The Liberian Chief Executive noted that she was “very impressed” with the improvements being made at the referral and teaching hospital.

“I’m very impressed with the improvement made at this hospital. With the staff and their dedication – many of them that were so good during the period of fighting Ebola – they are doing a tremendous job,” she said.

According to an Executive Mansion release, the Liberian leader made the statement Monday following a guided tour of the medical center to see, first hand, reconstruction and the upgrading of the facility currently taking place.

She toured the second, third and fourth floors of the medical center as well as other parts of the out-patient department, including a dry-run of the triage put in place at the side entrance of the compound to screen patients who visit the hospital for treatment and to extract those patients who might have Ebola symptoms.

“One of the things we have been working with our partners is to make sure that after Ebola we will upgrade all of our hospitals and health centers. JFK is a primary and historical one for us,” she said.

President Sirleaf disclosed that already some partners, including the National Institute of Health, have committed to work with the management of the JFK Medical Center and the Ministry of Health to make sure that this hospital is upgraded to a primary referral hospital.

The Liberian leader reiterated her call on squatters residing at the back of the JFK Medical Center fence to relocate as they have blocked the drainage that empties into the Atlantic Ocean causing the hospital to get flooded during the raining season.

“Many persons have built in the swampland against the walls of the hospital. When the raining season comes the hospital gets flooded,” she said.

She stressed that government and partners have made and are making a big investment in the hospital and will not allow the hospital to be destroyed.

She said government will work with the residents to begin plans for relocation.

In remarks, Chief Administrator Dr. Wannie Scott-Mcdonald said she was delighted by the visit of President Sirleaf to the J.F.K. Medical Center to see ongoing work at the facility.

She used the opportunity to inform the public that the J.F.K. Medical Center is their hospital and they should seek treatment there anytime they fall sick.

Dr. McDonald noted that the President’s visit was also intended to assure the Liberian people that the healthcare of the country has returned to normal and that the J.F.K. hospital is open and functional and patients should feel free to visit there for treatment.

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