A One Bermuda Alliance MP has proposed the partnering of the services of two East End facilities to support seniors transitioning back into the community from medical care.

Linda Smith, the Shadow Minister of Seniors, Environment and Sustainability, said combining the resources of the Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre with Channel House — which the Government plans to repurpose into a transitional healthcare facility — would ideally benefit seniors.

She cited a “significant need” for residential and outpatient rehabilitation services and wound care catering to the elderly.

Ms Smith said: “The Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre is a good facility, but short notice of changes in hours can make it seem unreliable.

“Perhaps this is the time to identify opportunities for improvements that can deliver better services, including efficiencies and economies of scale.

“There may be areas where medical and seniors’ services can be enhanced and expanded by leveraging synergies that may naturally exist across the existing clinic and the new facility.

“The objective should be to develop residential and community support that will enable seniors who can to age at home confidently knowing that appropriate community-based services are available, as and when needed.”

On Wednesday, the Government said Channel House will be repurposed to house 60 beds under a project aimed at alleviating space issues that have plagued the Bermuda Hospitals Board.

Kim Wilson, the Minister of Health, said the facility, which will be operated collaboratively by the Department of Health and the BHB, will house patients who are medically fit for discharge, offering short-term care and rehabilitation services before they return home or move on to another care setting.

Zane DeSilva, the Deputy Premier and Minister of Housing and Municipalities, said the project is expected to be finished in the next eight to 12 months, with the final designs, including for rooms, being completed.

Ms Smith urged the Government to use the time leading up to the opening of Channel House, on Longfield Road in St David’s, to map out a systemic solution that will benefit the island in the long term.

She also urged the Government to view the redevelopment project as an opportunity to identify and define its role in improving medical and seniors’ services overall.

She said taking a broad look at what exists and what is being planned could deliver more connected solutions to many issues.

It can also create a positive sense of place in Southside to serve the community.

Ms Smith said Channel House had been deemed a suitable site for senior healthcare services more than three years ago.

She added: “The bed-blocking issue at the hospital has been accelerating for over a decade, and we are just now making a final decision on how to reuse suitable existing buildings to quell that crisis.

“At the same time, we have a housing crisis, and Southside is also a location for new housing, so how is all this coming together?

“Why wasn’t this alternative moved on sooner, particularly as there did not appear to be many promising proposals from the private sector to the request for interest in redeveloping the building?

“We now have to wait eight to 12 months before this facility can begin to provide any relief to the overcrowding at the hospital.”

Ms Smith said repurposing Channel House for use as a transitional facility “solves only part of the problem”, adding that more than a quarter of Bermuda’s population are seniors with medical and housing needs.

“So, where does this development fit in with other plans to build housing, retail facilities and ultimately a new community at Southside?” she questioned.