The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Nurses Union president Amancha Williams estimates more than 500 nurses have received an honorarium for work done during the COVID-19 pandemic and has thanked the government for the gift.

She explained that nurses from areas such as the Department of Public Health, Rand Memorial Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH), Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre (SCR) and the Family Islands were among the hundreds who received the gift according to the criteria that the government put in place.

Health Minister Renward Wells said last month that people who received an honorarium were recommended by a select committee within the Ministry of Health.

“This committee was to make the decision based on the criteria approved by Cabinet for those who willingly stepped forward during the period 19th March to 18th June, 2020, and for those who later joined the fight in the Ministry of Health,” he said.

Mr Wells added that up to that point, 308 doctors, 644 nurses, 111 emergency medical services staff and 669 non-clinical staff have received honorariums ranging from about $1,000 to $5,000.

The union president expressed gratitude for the payments and said nurses are “quite pleased”.

“I think the Bahamas Nurses Union has been satisfied. It’s an honorarium and we can’t go out there and fight and carry on. We only can make the government live up to their promises. An honorarium is a gift and we must beware of that. It’s a gift and someone saying thank you for the work that you’ve done.

“I wanted it to be documented that we say thank you on behalf of the Bahamas Nurses Union and the nurses of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.”

She declined to be specific about how much money nurses received.

“Everybody got paid separately. Everybody got paid on a different sequence,” she told The Tribune.

“So there’s different times… according to their payroll... PHA is the last grouping to receive the honorarium and they’re completing their listing as of today.”

She added: “Payment was given over a timeframe… The government had to send the funding to PHA in order for them to pay out. So as they send the funding then the payment was going to be made.”