Almost nine years to the day that the Bermuda Red Cross's Hospital Equipment Rental Service moved to its present location at the Old Hospital, they will be moving again... this time to a permanent and more spacious home just down the road.

As of the first Monday in January - the 6th - those who rent hospital equipment such as wheelchairs, beds, walkers and crutches will then turn onto the Charleswood property on Berry Hill Road which is the headquarters of the Bermuda Red Cross.

Construction on the new $1 million, three-storey addition to the building Red Cross purchased in 1995 began in March and is now just over a month from occupancy, with an official opening and unveiling ceremony to be held next Wednesday evening. The service has been in different locations at the hospital since 1965, the last nine years at its present location on the first floor. It was because of a need for more space, combined with a letter from the Bermuda Hospitals Board dated October 13, 1997 that outlined their need for the space, that prompted them to begin looking for a new location.

The letter reminded then Director of Bermuda Red Cross, Frank Gamble, now deceased, “of the conversations we have had about the possibility of the Red Cross finding an alternative location for the home-care equipment service”.

Mr. Gamble, who served as Director in a volunteer capacity for 19 years (1980-1999) died last year without seeing the new building completed, but his efforts helped bring it about as Bermuda Red Cross obtained planning permission for the building project prior to his death.

“It was his goal before he stepped down as Director to have this building started before he died,” said Bermuda Red Cross Director, Ann Spencer-Arscott this week.

“Where we are now it is so hard to park, for both our volunteers and our customers.

“It also made sense to start looking for another location and it made sense for it to come on site,” said Bermuda Red Cross Director, Ann Spencer-Arscott who added that there was no room in the Red Cross building to accommodate the Hospital Equipment Rental Service.

The new location will certain enable the volunteers (18 of them presently working two-hour shifts and logging in approximately 100 hours a year) to better serve the public as the space will be about three times what they presently have.

HER is operated separately but generates between $65,000 and $80,000 in income for the Bermuda Red Cross.

“We charge just $10 a week for a wheelchair,” said Linda Abend who has been a volunteer for 13 years and handles accounts. “The whole idea at the beginning was probably short term rental, but we do have people who rent for years. The main goal was to help people get out of hospital quicker and not have to buy expensive equipment that they are only going to need for a couple of months.”

Presently HER is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the week and 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturdays, but there is a possibility that opening hours can be increased if more volunteers come forward. Certainly, for those involved with the charity, the move is greatly anticipated.

“In doing this we have been able to really look at the equipment we have, some of which we are aware is old and not in the best of condition,” said Mrs. Spencer-Arscott.

“The popular items that we rent are hospital beds, wheelchairs, commodes and folding walkers, those are our hot items.”

Said Mrs. Abend: “We have tub transfer benches, raised toilet seats that people need when they've had hip or knee surgery and we also baby equipment if a visitor needs a car seat or stroller. And hotels rent from us, both hospital equipment and baby equipment.”

Things like wheelchairs and walkers are also sought during events like elections, funerals and official ceremonies. Many residents may not even know the service exists, especially those who have never had a need to rent the equipment.

The physiotherapy department of the hospital use the equipment and moving away from the hospital will be a bit of an inconvenience for the staff of that department who used to make the short walk to see what was available for their patients to rent. “It's a shame for people to have to buy the equipment, and those who do buy usually end up giving it to us afterwards,” said Mrs. Spencer-Arscott.

Because of the lack of parking at the old hospital, it can often be difficult to return equipment to HER, which is either left at Red Cross or the hospital.

“For those who know where we are now the accessibility is going to be 100 per cent better,” the Director assured.

Despite the reasonable rental fees, HER still carries about $10,000 a year in bad debt with equipment either not returned or not paid for. “We have a lot of people who feel that we are last ones on the list that they should pay,” said Mrs. Abend regretfully.

“We also have to write off a lot of equipment. We have a very good system, everything is marked with a Red Cross number, so when wheelchair “One” is left outside the door we know who had it.

“Whenever we're visiting the hospital we are always looking on the backs of the wheelchairs because sometimes when people rent the equipment while in the hospital, when they go home they leave it there. It's amazing where we find some of our stuff.”

Added the Director: “We have to pay for every piece of new equipment that comes in, so we rely on donations to buy equipment. “The costs are going up and for the bigger items we will be increasing the (rental) fee.”

Equipment can only be renzzzzzted for a week, month, or even longer.

“They can keep it for the week, they don't have to rush it back, but we find it is a lot easier than playing around with a day rate,” said Mrs. Abend.

The new building will have about 1,600 square feet of space on each floor, with the basement and first floor for equipment rental. The charity is still seeking donations to help cover the cost of the building, with some donations having already been received.

“We're hoping to build up equipment for disasters, which is a long-term goal,” revealed the Director.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, whose world headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland and in is 180 countries, has four core areas of service they have to provide: promotion of the movements fundamental principles and humanitarian values; disaster response, disaster preparedness and health and care in the community.

Bermuda Red Cross has been in Bermuda since August 1950. In 1967 they started the Hospital Equipment Rental Service and to date they have over 700 pieces of equipment and serve some 675 customers.

Excess supplies are frequently sent to Red Cross Societies in the Caribbean. “They are in much more dire straits than us,” said the Director.

“We are always happy to be able to help our sister societies, not as often as we would like.”