The Tribune

By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

TWENTY patients who visited the High Rock Clinic on Monday could not get medication at the facility, East Grand Bahama MP Kwasi Thompson said yesterday, as he accused the government of allowing conditions at the community clinic to deteriorate into a “health hazard”.

Mr Thompson said residents who needed medication were forced to travel to Freeport because a pharmacist no longer visits the clinic, which operates from a retrofitted trailer in High Rock.

He claimed the pharmacist stopped travelling to the clinic because mileage payments had not been made.

“Unfortunately, the government has not paid the mileage for the pharmacist, and so the pharmacist no longer comes to the High Rock Clinic to dispense medication which means just today, you have an excess of 20 patients, and all 20 of them who needed medication had to travel to Freeport to collect their medication, whereas in ordinary circumstances they would have gotten their medication here at the clinic,” he said. 

“What’s the point of having a community clinic if patients are not able to receive their medication?

"Many of these folks are elderly persons, and many do not have transportation. Many of them have to pay for transportation or borrow a ride in order to get to Freeport to find medication."

Mr Thompson said he was shocked by conditions at the clinic during a visit on Monday, describing the situation as "absolutely horrible".He said staff and patients were enduring “unbearable” heat because most of the clinic’s air-conditioning units were broken. 

He claimed temperatures inside the facility were approaching 100 degrees and said staff members, including security officers, were visibly sweating.

"The situation at the High Rock Clinic is absolutely horrible," he said. 

"You have nurses, and patients in unbearable heat who are coming for medical treatment, and are confronted with a place that has a majority of the AC units broken."

“You are sitting in the waiting room and you are sweating waiting to be seen. And you have temperatures that are up to 100° and it is an unbearable situation,” said Mr Thompson.

“When I walked into the clinic today, I met all of the staff and the security officers sweating because of how unbearable the heat was.”

Mr Thompson said a patient was also at the clinic to have bandages removed and replaced."It is not just an unbearable situation, but I think it is a health hazard situation as well," he said.

He also claimed the clinic’s backup generator is not working, raising concerns about how the facility would operate during power outages."This situation cannot continue,” he said. 

“The government must pay attention to these community clinics and ensure they are properly staffed and adequately maintained.

"Pastor Pedyson Baillou, a justice of the peace and East End resident, said the problems were affecting communities across eastern Grand Bahama.

"There is a lot of dissatisfaction in the community, and healthcare is essential," he said.

 "I am totally disgusted by the situation. They need to pay more attention to healthcare in the settlements in the East End area."

Mr Baillou also complained about limited healthcare services in some communities, particularly Sweeting’s Cay, where he said doctors visit only once a month. He said there is no nurse on the cay to assist the doctor.

Resident Ishmael Laing said problems at the clinic have dragged on for some time.

"The generator has not been working for a year now," he claimed. "The transfer switch doesn't work. They might only need someone to repair it."

Mr Laing also criticised the medication problem, saying residents who travel to Freeport sometimes find medication unavailable at public healthcare facilities and must turn to private clinics for prescriptions.

"I feel we're behind God's back and at the last point. No one checks for East End," he said.

Efforts to contact Public Hospitals Authority Managing Director Aubynette Rolle and officials at Grand Bahama Health Services for comment were unsuccessful up to press time.