New geriatric nursing home for western Ja

Mark Titus, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:Geriatric health-care services are to receive a boost in Jamaica when the ASHRE Care Centre opens for business on July 1.

Located at 114 Hamilton Avenue, Dunbar, Montego Bay, the 4,000-sq ft facility will provide long-term, short-term, and senior's daycare services, supported by a staff capacity of 30 health-care professionals.

The brainchild of the brother and sister team of Vinroy and Angela Gordon, the centre's establishment is in response to the need to provide adequate nursing home facilities and care for Jamaica's growing senior citizen population.

"This actually came about after the loss of my father and brother," said Angela. "My father died in a nursing home, and when we came and saw the conditions under which the patrons had to live, it was devastating, and we thought we needed to do something to set the standard for what should be expected at such facilities."

Registered as a health care service provider, the spacious 13-room, double-occupancy facility will be managed and operated by a team of professionals with more than 35 years of experience in business management and health care.

"Our number-one priority is the care and service of our residents. We are committed to providing a safe and rewarding lifestyle in a residence they will be proud to call home. We hire nurses that are certified, skilled, caring, and compassionate, who truly embrace our priority of care and service and are committed to delivering excellence in all they do," Angela told Western Focus.

promoting life

"We figured that the standard of the homes needed to be elevated, promoting life rather than just waiting to die," she continued. "One of the things I experienced when my father was in the hospital was that none of the nurses wanted to talk to me. Because the conditions were so bad, they were not enjoying their work. We will change that."

Angela, who is a director with one of the world's largest telemedicine health care firms in Canada, also has plans to introduce some of the North American firm's home health-care models to Jamaica and is already looking to take their offerings to other parts of the country.

"We simply want to instigate change in these sensitive services on offer, and (once) we can succeed in achieving that, then we can say 'mission accomplished'," she said.