Shadow Health Minister, Louise Jackson has called for a renewed focus on seniors and their plight in the Continuing Care Unit at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

In a news conference yesterday, Mrs. Jackson praised the plan revealed by the Bermuda Hospitals Board for the hospital last week that will provide new acute care facilities in five years for $315 million.

But she also lambasted the Government and BHB for failing to prioritise the seniors that will remain in the dilapidated buildings on the KEMH site while plans go ahead for the new acute care facilities.

She said: "The need to modernise and expand the facility has been made clear and we are encouraged that the plan put forward appears to be sensible and more realistic than the original that caused a community uproar.

"We also said in our (Throne Speech) reply that we would keep close watch on the hospital project given the Government's record on hospital planning and other big projects and that we could do our best to make sure that commonsense and management control prevail.

"Our first concern is that the new hospital plans do not include any real action on the continuing care unit for seniors.

"There is talk of building east and west campuses for continuing care but for the foreseeable future this 102-bed facility will be housed in the old, dilapidated hospital building."

Further adding to seniors care is the lack of space in Government-run nursing homes which Mrs. Jackson said were completely full.

These facilities have also struggled to hire staff in the past, however, Permanent Secretary of Health Warren Jones confirmed that Sylvia Richardson and Lefroy House had 85 percent of their necessary staff.

However, the Alzheimer's unit at the Sylvia Richardson Home was still being used by patients from MWI as that building continues to undergo mould treatment, which began in November last year.

Mr. Jones said: "As it relates to the Sylvia Richardson Facility, the only issue related specifically to the Department of Health, I am pleased to report that we are have now hired 85% of our full staffing complement for both Sylvia Richardson and Lefroy House.

"The Department of Health has worked very hard to fill both nursing and geriatric aide posts in our nursing homes and I congratulate them for their efforts, particularly in light of the worldwide shortage of nurses.

"The Alzheimer's Unit at Sylvia Richardson is presently being utilised to provide housing to residents of the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute whilst the renovations to Fairview Court are being completed."

Previous reviews of the hospital had indicated moving the Continuing Care Unit at KEMH out of the hospital was a top priority to redevelop the building.

However, last week the BHB and Johns Hopkins along with architects RTKL revealed that to cut costs and ensure the hospital could remain on the same site, the plan would begin with acute care not continuing care.

The first two phases include an ambulatory wing for emergency services, a six-story patient tower, a new central utility plant and renovations to the existing structure.

The third phase, as it is outlined in the Johns Hopkins Report, would include the nursing staff residence, the continuing care unit and the hospice unit being relocated off the site.

Mr. Hill explained the decision to delay on the continuing care unit was taken to ensure it was a community-wide project that would properly deliver care for seniors.

"The Continuing Care elements of the campuses of care, proposed in the original Estate Master Plan, are not part of the current hospital plan because continuing care requires a wider community debate and solution with regards to senior care," he said.

"Now we are looking forward to engaging with Government and other community groups to discuss how we can best plan comprehensively for our seniors. This is not a solution the hospital can make on its own."