The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

A SURGICAL theatre attached to the Princess Margaret Hospital’s (PMH) labour ward has been closed due to mold infestation, according to Opposition Leader Dr Hubert Minnis yesterday.

Dr Minnis criticised the state of the PMH as he renewed calls for the government to open the unfurnished and under-staffed Critical Care Block.

He charged that the government could not afford to compromise the health care system, pointing to the ongoing strike by nurses.

“The new (Critical Care Block) has the facility for new theatres,” Dr Minnis said. “All the government has to do is move the patients to the new block and utilise the facilities that we have built. Instead they choose to leave them there in a mold-infested area knowing that the personnel are plagued with respiratory problems.

“We demand the government relieve this problem and move the staff to the new facility. You cannot have them working in an environment that is mold-infested, and they are trying to place plastic around the area to see if that would contain the mould.

“That cannot be right,” he added.

Dr Minnis and several FNM MPs conducted a brief walkthrough of the PMH facility yesterday. His claims follow several concerns raised by a doctor about conditions at the hospital last month.

In an email sent to dozens of health professionals, and obtained by The Tribune, the doctor complained of leaky ceilings, a shortage of the antibiotic Ampicillin, which caused the drug to be kept only for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and that timely specimen collection had been a challenge. The email mainly highlighted the experiences of patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

However, the concerns were addressed by Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) officials, who pointed to changes that had taken place to alleviate issues with the state of the facility.

Yesterday, Dr Minnis told The Tribune that nurses and related staff have suffered from respiratory ailments as a result of the mould contaminants in that area.

“We’re very concerned about the irresponsibility and the lack of care of this government with respect to the Bahamian people,” he said.

“On the labour ward for example the theatre has been out of commission, it’s mould infested and the nurses have been complaining about it for the past two weeks. They’ve just closed it.”

Dr Minnis said: “The nurses and other personnel on the ward because of the mould infestation have had respiratory problems.”

“If they open the new wing itself, the Critical Care Block, it would relieve a lot of the problems that we face in terms of waiting times, bed space, etc, all that was done to relieve the problems. Now the nurses are on strike so the backup is even further, even longer.”

He added: “The government must relieve and remedy the problem and come to the bargaining table, and resolve this problem. You cannot compromise the health care system.”

In July, Frank Smith, the PHA chairman, explained that in addition to not having the funding for important medical equipment, officials have yet to recruit the staff needed to operate the Critical Care Block. He explained that a number of challenges have plagued the facility and that it could not be said at the time when the facility will officially be opened.

“That is totally immaterial,” Dr Minnis said, “if they could have spent $50m, according to the (Minister of Agriculture) Alfred Gray, in Andros you don’t think they could have funded this if they wanted to? This is important.

“Is it not important to save our staff and have them working in a proper environment? Is it not important to have our mothers deliver and have their operations in a proper mould-free environment? Is it not important for our babies not to be exposed to a mold-infested environment when we have the facilities here waiting and available?”