The Tribune

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT

tsmith-cartwright@tribunemedia.net

ANOTHER healthcare professional has reportedly died from COVID-19 while working on the frontline at Princess Margaret Hospital.

Tribune sources said a trained clinical nurse, six months into her pregnancy, recently succumbed to the virus at the hospital which is now fully stressed from COVID-19 cases and an overflow of bodies in its morgue.

The Tribune contacted PMH administrator, Nurse Mary Walker yesterday to officially confirm the COVID-19 death, but she would only say that the Public Hospitals Authority is “releasing a statement on the nurse’s death”.

PHA managing director Catherine Weech, speaking to The Tribune while on holiday, confirmed that a nurse had died, but did not say what the cause was.

“First of all I know we had a nurse that died,” said Mrs Weech. “We lost a staff member and I cannot tell you what she died from as that would be confidential information. We are stressed and we are challenged considerably.

“Secondly, our appeal and recommendation to the public is to follow the government’s advice, follow the international advice and let’s get vaccinated. That’s the only way we are going to fight this pandemic. Other than that, the health system will continue to be stressed.”

Asked if working conditions and protection were satisfactory in terms of keeping staff safe from the virus, Mrs Weech indicated the government was doing its best in that regard.

“Within the context of the government doing what it can from the point of view of PHA, we are trying,” she said. “We are trying, but we need individual responsibility right now. We need persons to take individual responsibility. The more we have persons recognising that they need to do something to help the public health system the better it will be in the short term.

“The government continues to obligate funding for the procurement of personal protective equipment. We have outfitted every ward, every clinic throughout the length and breadth of The Bahamas. We are doing all we can to secure our agents and that we are able to conduct the necessary screening test.”

Despite the government’s push for people to get vaccinated, there are some even in the healthcare sector who are hesitant about the shot.

Dr Weech was asked about the current number of health professionals who have received the vaccinations.

“I don’t have the data, unfortunately,” she said. “That’s the national programme. The rates are low nationally. At some point and time maybe a light bulb would come on. Some persons are even afflicted by the virus and once they get better they come out and they say they are still not going to take it (vaccine). So what do you do?”

PHA recently issued a statement asking the general public to claim bodies of their families from the morgue as it was currently filled. The morgue currently has 245 bodies and it should only have 73. Dr Weech is making the same appeal.

“We are appealing to the general public for those who have lost loved ones, to please come forward to make arrangements with morticians to move the bodies from the morgue,” she said. “That’s the only way that we would be able to clear things up and be able to accommodate persons the way we need to be accommodating them. That’s an ongoing challenge and the public needs to help us there.”

The Consultant Physicians Staff Association president, Dr Sabriquet Pinder-Butler, has repeatedly said there is a shortage of doctors and the system needs more. Mrs Weech begs to differ stating there are 600 doctors in the government system.

“I don’t know that we are understaffed whereas doctors are concerned right now,” she said. “Each year we graduate doctors and no matter what that number is, the doctors expect that everybody will be hired. Each year we graduate all types of disciplines. They are not all going to work for the government. But the expectation is that once the government graduates them it is the responsibility of the public system to engage them.

“From that community of individuals, you will always get a call to hire everyone. I can tell you that we are hiring some of them. A set of the juniors will start this week, providing all their credentials are in. We are constantly getting this thing about being short of doctors. We are not short of doctors, we have almost six hundred doctors in the public health system. “Princess Margaret carries the lion’s share of that number.

“If you have that many doctors, how can you then say we are short of doctors? We do have exposure rates. That means the doctors are out of office, but that is short lived. That is only 14 days. Now if you ask me if we are short of nurses, I would say, ‘absolutely.’ We are also trying to engage some nurses. That is the critical group right now that we need to hire – nurses and nursing support staff.”