The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville says his ministry is working on plans to increase manpower in public health and improve infrastructure of medical facilities on the Family Islands.

Dr Darville made the comments when asked about the matter in view of a shooting at Bimini last week that resulted in a man being airlifted to New Providence for medical assistance due to limited resources on the island.

Dr Darville, who was on Bimini at the time of the incident, was able to assist the victim who sustained serious gunshot injuries.

Photos of the victim being taken to the clinic on the back of a truck circulated on social media, reigniting public concern.

Bimini and West Grand Bahama MP Obie Wilchcombe told reporters the victim had to be taken for medical care on the truck because the island’s ambulance had been out of order.

Mr Darville told reporters on Tuesday: “Well, you know Bimini like all of the Family Islands are in need of infrastructural upgrades to the clinics and more manpower resources on the ground. The incident in Bimini was very unfortunate. A lot of socially related issues need to be addressed at all levels, at the community level, at the government level and even at the churches.

“But I say to all the residents in the Family Islands, the time has come for the government to look very closely at the services being provided and ensure there is equity in the system. At some of our far-flung southern islands, we need to do a lot more and we are definitely working towards that.”

“We are now in discussions with architects, not to the contractor level but architects and quantity surveyors to try to determine what our next step is going to be and how we’re going to move swiftly to repair a lot of those clinics and improve the manpower resources on our island so that we can deliver a better quality healthcare and for it to be on par with the type of healthcare we give on Grand Bahama and New Providence,” the minister also said.

Healthcare workers stationed on the Family Islands have long been calling for additional resources and upgrades to infrastructure in public health.

Earlier this year, The Tribune reported that nurses in Abaco called in sick in protest of the lack of safety protocols, security and unsanitary conditions at the Marsh Harbour Clinic.

Since being elected to office, Dr Darville has maintained the government remains committed to improving healthcare in the country.

He also revealed his ministry’s plans to expand services on Abaco and Exuma.

“In The Bahamas, we have 91 clinics,” he said earlier this week. “We are a unique country with an archipelago that extends almost a thousand miles and we have to duplicate healthcare services on all these islands that are populated. It’s a very costly thing to do and we believe that by putting the right logistics in place, we would be able to deal with very serious cases rapidly and save lives.

“But we’re working at our two mini clinics – the clinic in Exuma and in Abaco - and trying to determine how to utilise those clinics more effectively rather than flying the individual to Nassau. There are some cases that can actually go to our mini clinics and get access to services and to be able to go right back into the community swiftly and reduce the cost of air ambulance service throughout the country so a lot of things we’re looking at as it relates to the logistics and how we can better manage healthcare delivery systems particularly in our southern islands.”