A view of the awful condition of the restroom at Ward B of the Bellevue hospital.

THE Kiwanis Club of Downtown Kingston on Friday launched a programme to raise $800,000 to refurbish restrooms on Ward B of the Bellevue Hospital in Kingston, in which geriatric female patients are housed.

Chief executive officer of the hospital, Hugh Anthony Porter, said the club, as part of its contribution to community development, has sought to help the hospital after learning that sections of the facility had fallen into disrepair.

"The B Ward has been identified as one of the areas most in need of fixture and therefore the club has made the decision to take on the task of raising the funds to carry out the job," Porter said.

Patrick Whittock, president of the club, said that already $300,000 of the amount required was raised. A portion of this was contributed by Ashtrom Building Systems and the remainder by the club.

President of the Kiwanis Club of Downtown Kingston, Patrick Whittock, looks at the restroom facility at Ward B of the Bellevue hospital. The club intends to raise $800,000 to fix the facility. Nurse Carol Malcolm from the hospital looks on.

Whittock said that in order to raise the remainder of the money the club, through the fund-raising project, would be approaching other organisations in corporate Jamaica for assistance.

"The Kiwanis Club recognises the tremendous needs of the hospital and has been taking steps to assist the hospital with this renovation," Whittock told the Observer.

The 147-year-old Bellevue hospital, located on Windward Road, provides psychiatric care to patients from across the island.

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