The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

PUBLIC health officials yesterday said they were investigating claims that a pregnant woman was denied care at a community clinic because she did not have a Haitian passport.

Community Health Administrator Charlene Bain told The Tribune by email that the Department of Public Health would make an official statement once a probe to determine the facts was complete.

Ms Bain did not respond to additional questions on whether presentation of valid identification is mandatory for access to public health care, or whether the public facilities were regulated by the Health Services Act.

The probe comes after The Tribune revealed allegations from a 21-year-old pregnant mother of three who claimed she was denied antenatal care on two separate occasions at the Fleming Street Clinic. In a letter from her attorney, obtained by The Tribune, the young mother claimed that she did not receive care until she was personally assisted by the head nurse on her third attempt at eight months pregnant.

However, her attorney Fred Smith, QC, said although the mother was given medical attention she was told during her third visit to the clinic that she still needed a Haitian passport to receive health care.

Last November, the government introduced a stricter immigration policy that, among other things, requires every non-Bahamian to have a passport of their nationality.

Yesterday, Minister of Immigration and Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell said he had no comment on the matter.

The 21-year-old said she was born in the Bahamas to Haitian parents, her father is a permanent resident and her mother had a work permit. Her certificate of identity expired in 2007, but her mother did not renew it. She filed for a Bahamian passport on her 19th birthday, she said.

In a letter to the clinic administrator and Minister of Health Dr Perry Gomez, officials were asked to continue to provide care to the mother until a decision was made on her intended application for a judicial review of the clinic’s policy.

The mother is due to give birth this week.