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.

“We’re a 185-bedded facility, but we’re currently operating at a 158-bed capacity, and the challenge has been beds as well as human resources,” she said.

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.

“Now that we’ve gotten the additional strength from the Ghanaian Brigade, and they’re going to start on Monday, once we operationalize the beds, we’ll be able to expand that space,” Belle-Jarvis said, noting that the move will allow patients to be transferred more quickly from the Emergency Room to wards.

Health officials say restoring bed capacity should ease bottlenecks and improve patient flow at the country’s main referral hospital.

Belle-Jarvis added that while staffing gains are a step forward, infrastructure and equipment gaps remain. “Infrastructural challenges, equipment challenges — we still have a long way to go,” she said, calling for sustained investment to strengthen healthcare services.