By JADE RUSSELL
jrussell@tribunemedia.net
SENATOR Darren Henfield said yesterday that the healthcare facilities on the Family Islands need the attention of the government. He said many islanders are still forced to fly to the capital for emergency medical assistance.
He said if it were his decision, he would build a world-class hospital, not a sports centre — an apparent jibe at the Davis administration.
Mr Henfield’s comments came during his contribution to the Mental Health Bill debate in the Senate. While he acknowledged the efforts of the government to improve the public health system, Mr Henfield said much work is still needed.
“We have these beautiful, what we call community clinics in Abaco and I think one is in Exuma, beautifully built and appointed. But still Abaconians and Exuma residents and people all across the country have to jump on an emergency flight if, God forbid, they suffered a traffic accident, or something goes wrong.
“And that’s because we don’t have the expertise to manage these facilities,” he said.
Mr Henfield pointed out the challenges islanders are faced with to receive health care, noting that these long-standing issues should be addressed.
Although he said he was not “knocking” the government’s efforts, he stressed that many residents have no choice but to access the public health care facilities.
“We have to find a way, we have to find the commitment, and resolve to make our healthcare system, a place where you and I, leaders in this country would have no issue taking our children or taking ourselves.
“The Bahamian people deserve no less and I’m very passionate about this. I know we’ve made tremendous strides over the years, we made tremendous improvements over the years, but we got to go much further. I know the government’s responsibility is to set its policies. But I would build a world-class hospital before I build a sports centre. But that’s just me.”
He stressed: “Some people have no other choice; they have nowhere else to go except to come to our public health care facilities.”
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