The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

OPPOSITION Leader Michael Pintard said the nursing profession is experiencing a severe shortage in the country, and said retired nurses should be brought back into the system.

Mr Pintard spoke at the Retired Nurses of Grand Bahama luncheon and officers’ installation at Jubilee Cathedral on Sunday.

He said: “We talk about a new hospital; the issue is not the place, but it is the people. Do we have enough of them to populate the new facilities or the facilities that exist right now?

“Resignations, and emigration to Canada and the US, and, unfortunately, death have gutted the nursing system. And so we have a shortage of well in excess of 200 nurses right now in our system.”

Mr Pintard said both administrations have failed nurses.

“One of the things we can do right away is that retired nurses can still work in establishments and provide guidance and leadership in wellness training in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas,” he said.

“In this room are many years of expertise that we still need; we are importing hundreds of nurses from elsewhere, and in part, we need some because of the deficit of people who emigrated.”

Mr Pintard said previous government promises to nurses have not been satisfied, yet the government is spending money elsewhere.

He said there is no provision for insurance coverage for nurses when they retire.

He said: “Our nurses are still retiring without the requisite insurance to ensure long-term coverage unless you have been creative in finding it outside of the system that you have served, and this is a tragedy and that ought to be remedied.

“Right now, policymakers are making decisions about ensuring that we are able to migrate from the public system that maintain our health insurance through establishing with insurance companies a relationship where policymakers after they would have left office are not destitute.”

He believes the same should happen for nurses in The Bahamas.

Mr Pintard said there had been tragic stories of nurses who died because of COVID, and their families could not benefit because the deadline for the requisition of funds was missed.

He said deadlines are irrelevant, especially when those nurses had provided many years of service in the public healthcare system and had lost their lives.

“We can and must do better with you,” he told retirees.

He added: “One of the things I am sure that this present Minister of Health would be open to is entering into a formal relationship with this group to provide wellness leadership in private companies, schools, and elsewhere so you can continue to serve and also financially benefit from that little thing we did not provide you before you retired.”

Mr Pintard pledged to contribute financially for the next three months to assist retired nurses in Grand Bahama.

Shirley Bain, president of the Retired Nurses of Grand Bahama, said retired nurses are still capable and eager to partner with the government and healthcare institutions.

The organisation was started six years ago by Pastor Valerie Mullings to bring retired nurses together on the island and to agitate for certain benefits.

Ms Bain said the organisation would like to get hospital VIP cards and continued insurance coverage for retired nurses.

“Once you are retired, you are not covered by any insurance, and we are not getting the kind of quality service we should get when we come to the hospital for care,” she stated.

“We want to make it known we are here, and we want to partner with the government and health institutions to bring better service for us retirees and assist young nurses by helping to educate and mentor them,” she said.

The newly installed executive officers are Shirley Bain, president; Patricia Hanchell, first vice president; Lanna Munroe, 2nd vice president; Doretha Carey-Hield and Cheryl Smith, secretary; Stephanie Small and Ione Henley, treasurers; Edith Gardiner, chaplain; and Hazel Rigby and Ellamae Guarro, public relations.